In 1956 we drove my old Pontiac
To the Park Theatre on main
I bought two tickets for two dollars and a little bit of change
We went to balcony where we found ourselves alone
Her daddy didn't like it that night because I never took her home
I got down on one knee and asked her to be wife
We drove to Reverend Dawkins and got married that night
My daddy and I built us a house where we could raise our kids
It was a three room house with a little front porch where we would sit and plan
With our first baby on the way I heard from Uncle Sam.
Pack up your stuff, say your goodbye's your off to Vietnam
I don't want to do no killin'
Don't want to draw no blood
Why am I fighting?
Who are these people?
What have they done to me?
They're communist and have an evil ideolgy
I couldn't help but wonder if they thought being killed by a bullet or a grenade was really their saving grace.
My wife's thousands of miles away with a baby I have not yet seen.
Trying to be both mom and dad
I was beginning to get mad fighting over land that ain't worth having.
I stood up to stretch my legs
I felt a tingling in my ribs
A bullet had went through my liver, I wasn't going to live.
I asked my friend Pete to quickly write some lines.
He said, Jim I have paper but no pen.
I said here use mine.
The pen was covered in blood, slick and hard to handle.
Pete sat there wrote by only the light of a candle.
My little son Mike. I have not had the pleasure of meeting you.
Your mom has written and told me what a wonderful boy you are.
I was looking forward to seeing you but I'm afraid I won't make it home. My life will end here, and soon.
I know you are young and won't understand any of this until you become a man.
Sometimes you have to protect the things that are yours, most of the time it can be settled in peace, but sometimes not.
You may wonder what I have over here that is valuable enough to die for. The answer is nothing. What I'm fighting for is what I have over there, you and your mom.
"Bad things happen when good people do nothing"
(When calls the Heart)
Take care of Mom. You are the man of house now. I'm counting on you.
I am growing tired and week so I going to bed goodnight
I love you
