I miss him mommy
When will daddy come home
But he can’t hear them
It is his life that has been sown

Hi darling
I’m thinking of you
I love you so much
I hope you know it’s true

It was obvious
Somebody will die again
The news reports statistics
But a number is my friend

In a short amount of time
My whole life changed
I would never go back
My emotions are rearranged

Happy birthday son
I said it to a bird
In vain, it swept away
Wings were all I heard

Chu Lai, a refuge
A lie, only for the enemy
Mines, natural as the wind
John cleared them for me

I will never see them again
How could I leave?
I loved my home
But not as a place to grieve

Mired in stalemate
Death, shrugging its shoulders
They didn’t seem to care
Except to **** my brothers

The choppers, red cross buses
Politicians have their own ride
Silence is consent
But I know who lied

Our leader, iron willed ambition
Would no longer lead
His ranch calls to him
While bullets make us bleed

He left us behind
But a marine would never
How long would I be here
For a soldier, its always forever

Order at home, shoot protestors
Peace abroad, would I live to tell
The same words over and over
A white house and a jungle hell

From the very start
It seemed nobody understood
We didn’t speak the language
And we never would

Even death could smell itself
Though the trail never died
Rain, once the giver of life
Only increases the dread inside

We were so thirsty
We tried to drink morning dew
To see green grass, a flash
Made me think of you

I saw him remove his stripes
They shot our officers first
He tried to give new orders
My skin knew it would be worse

I thought about a hill I once climbed
It looked like the outline I now see
The answer was not letting anyone down
And the next man up was finally me

We were going to **** everyone
Their orders were the same
Were they scared or nervous?
It seemed they were glad we came

We raced up, the lottery all around
I forgot about being a hero or a coward
Duty made us think of our children
But the only way home was forward

Mommy, why are you crying?
What did that man say?
I will tell you later my son
First we must kneel down and pray  

The flag waves silently now
I don’t think about love or hatred
Instead it reminds me once again
How the life of a soldier is sacred

But who owns the hill we once won?
Forty years gone and still their children cry
The faces on the magazine cover
Are the ones who can no longer ask why