A Question

When we were young men, we first heard the call
 From Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, Presidents all
It began as a whisper and rose to a roar
The Viet Nam War was taking our young men
And they wanted more

We came from the lower 48 states, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico too
Our Draft Boards kept repeating
Uncle Sam wants You

 From all across America the middle and lower classes came
Army, Navy, Marines and Air Force wearing different uniforms
Yet, all the same
We raised our hands and to God and Country our allegiance was sworn
While D.I.'s promised to make us regret the day we were born

Uncle Sam trained and armed us for bear
And tried to convince us of the need over there
It made no difference that some did not understand why
We were told "For Christ's sake, suck it up and just be a man or you'll die"

In Basic they talked about characters like Jodi
and all the guys in the band
Who, instead of fighting Communists
stood around smoking dope and
enjoying free love with their heads in the sand

Basic was over and we were off to be trained for war
We learned the skill of causing death and destruction
Who possibly could ask for more

Then away we went, thousands of miles from home
To fight for the land of the free and the home of the brave
Where the buffalo roam

The dark years that followed saw tens of thousands of us die
All across the land we filled up our cemeteries
As Our Fathers, Mothers, Brothers, Sisters and Children cried

When it was over and those of us left had come back
We found that for reasons only God could understand
We were still under attack
They turned away, said we had failed and were not wanted
If so many of the American people were right
Why is it us whose dreams remain haunted

 From the graves of my brothers, forever resting beneath the ground
And from those of us still walking around
A question unanswered, like a dark cloud overhead, still hangs in the air
How can you condemn us the living or the spirits of our dead
If you were not there?

Sp5 Larry Carson
A Troop, 3/17th Air Cav
May 1969- June 1970