Bay 12 Games Forum

Nineteen sixty-five.
Hundred young men from my home town,
Board the bus with their heads held high.
...so brave...
every one of them thinking that they got the world to save.
Cuz when the communists -
and the red Chinese -
and all the other badies making Miss America bleed.
Man grabs his gun and makes his cry,
runs across the line, terrified.

They make that charge.

Without looking back they start the fight -
every soldier thinking not, for his life,
but the world they left behind.

(instrumental.)

Will he ever see his girl,
Will he ever make a wife?
Will he ever have a kid?
Will he...lose his life?

(instrumental.)

War kills the boy and the man is born.
Cuz when you're sleeping in the dirt, and you're drinking the mud,
Its hard to hold on to childhood fun.
A blast to your left and a shout to your right,
Another battle begins,
and another sleepless night.

(instrumental.)

Will he ever see his girl,
Will he ever make a wife?
Will he ever have a kid?
Will he...lose his life?

(instrumental.)

They said six months, it's been more than a year.
End of his deployment was almost here.
Just another tour of duty, nothing big to fear.

He's run the routes - he's manned the guns,
He's just another working vet in the Vietnam sun.

(instrumental.)

Will he ever see his girl,
Will he ever make a wife?
Will he ever have a kid?
Will he...lose his life?

(longer instrumental)

The message came on Monday morning -
The lads were packing up their gear.
He turned to his friend and back again.
He looked out on the moor.
Gave a big salute to his brothers in arms that were no longer here,
A final goodbye, and he cried sincere.
The chopper out was quiet ride,
Some guys cheered, others high-fived.
A cheer from the back said “We're going home!”

(instrumental.)
(Quieter. Fading out.)

Well he saw his girl,
-
He made her a wife.
Had two daughters,
And he got out with his life.

(Fin.)