A SOLDIER'S WISH
I never wanted to go to war, Uncle Sam
I hope you understand that I am not the warring kind
But I am a good soldier
that will follow the chain of command
I was born to be a soldier,
trained to fight the enemy of my homeland
To kill and be killed in the frontline
is the ultimate test and sacrifice that
I may have to face in my young fragile life.
So, here I am in unfamiliar foreign land
A foot soldier with a deadly M-60 machine gun in my hand
Killing men that if my trigger finger would hesitate,
will not give me a second chance
So I don't have a choice but to mow 'em down.
I never wanted to go to war, Uncle Sam
I hope you know and understand that by now
For despite the hardships and the killings
that I had seen in the battlefield
I am still an old country boy at heart
More comfortable with a guitar than a rifle in my hand
So, Uncle Sam
Please listen to my plea, I pray that when that
Lone trumpet player playS that one last lonely tune for me
Tell my friends to carry my tired and weary body
into the green fields of the country that I missed
and lay me softly into the soft brown earth
while playing the songs that I will surely cherish in my bed.