"America, Here's My Boy" was one of the most popular songs in the United States in 1917. The lyrics were by Andrew B. Sterling and the music by Arthur Lange; the publisher was the Joe Morris Music Co. of New York, New York. Written at the peak of the preparedness movement and copyrighted on February 16, 1917, it was widely regarded as a reply to "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier," the pro-neutrality hit published two years before. After the country entered the war it became a pervasive expression of commitment, with many performances by amateurs in venues from minstrel shows to benefit concerts. It was a favorite of the troops at training camps, and in October it was sung to Josephus Daniels, the Secretary of the Navy, by 12,000 sailors at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station.