The clank and clatter of steel on steel,
The squeak and squeal of heavy wheels,
The muttered curses of tired young men,
The rumbling engines fill silence and then,

The thud of explosions just up ahead,
The unspoken fear that friends are now dead,
The cackle of rifles so very close by,
Men screaming for corpsmen in agony cry,

With no real idea what it's all for,
Beyond a vague notion we've done this before,
Results that profoundly were painful back then,
Resurface and teach the same lessons again,

We came here to liberate and to make free,
Naivest of hopes that will never be,
Sent here by those who don't understand,
The traditions and culture of this foreign land,

Or compounding costs in broken down souls,
Once brightest futures snuffed in dark holes,
Ideals and potential by profligates spent,
Even though none of them ever went,

Millions and billions of dollars are gone,
Turned into mayhem, destruction, and bombs,
Cities are leveled and homes ground to dust,
Bridges are tumbled and left there to rust,

Why did we do this? I can't understand,
Leave our blessed home for some foreign land,
How is this worth it? I really can't say,
I just want to leave it and go on my way.