vietnam

In ’69 I went to war while Nixon was in charge

While Kissinger his famous brain was Ambassador-at-large

Vietnam seemed so far away but a flight across the sea

United us in strange embrace, both yearning to be free

Many men of different stripes with duffle bag in hand

Saw this Orient in great divide, a sacrificial land

The sun was hot, the soil was hard but our duty call was heard

The officers had our full respect, we took them at their word

Modern cavalry soon was marching, it mounted a high horse

Artillery guns were sounding, the war marched on its’ course

So off I went to guard my post of concrete, sand, and wire

At night the sky a show of exploding flares and fire

I had this Ranger background, ate snakes with my bare teeth

Bled red American Marlboro blood, Uncle Sam was my new chief

Overhead the choppers ripped the air, twin 60s at their doors

They searched the land for Viet Cong, rice paddy killer whores

The DMZ was really not all peacefulness and calm

The flowers there were buried by the smell of fresh napalm

Tet was a bitch for all involved, a bloody New Years truce

When General Giap knifed public Peace & hoped to cook that goose

We had marines in ol’Khe Sanh, six thousand in flat Hell

Unlike a real world title fight, no friendly-sounding bell

Then Abrams tried to save the day; he came in to help us out

But Charlie boy still had his guns and fought without a doubt

It started with a Friday rain and ran for months straight through

I hopped a jeep and left Saigon and drove mountains to Pleiku

The strawberry fields and rubber trees, red dust cloud in my head

I felt the weight of loyalty, machine gun in my bed

I heard Mike Leonard give his brief behind an army door

A peace sign hanging from his neck, he spoke about the war

What he had to say you had to hear, he said about midnight

The tanks would come down highway One and everyone’d take flight

The statues in this country, fighting soldiers under arms

Have weapons in poor peasant hands when all they want are farms

I left for home in a Freedom Bird from a world the French forgot

Knew a RED flag rose in victory and wondered, “Was it all for naught?”

I thought you had to love me, a steel warrior from your past

But when I walked your chilly roads those notions faded fast

Another war became another war, as conquest dreams were planned

While Nam guys keep a watchful eye, old battlements still manned

Come on America, give me Hell then give me precious bread

Tell me all I need to hear, pump love songs thru my head

Come on America, do it now while I am still near

Tell me all I need to know, softly whisper in my ear.