I was 17, just the teenage kid
The year that I enlisted
I can't remember why I did
My mom said that I insisted
I had some strange idea then
That Uncle Sam was right.
Oh momma cried, but she signed the card
And then I went off to fight.
Got off the plane in Vietnam
It didn't seem like war.
With all I saw I started to wonder what I have come there for.
Some officers got drunk at night, and cheated on their wife's.
And the peasants on the other side, where just struggling for their lives.
Oh the army tried some fancy stuff, to bring them to their knees.
Like Agent Orange defoliant, to kill the brush and tress.
We'd hike all day on jungle trails, through clouds of poison spray.
And they never told me then, that it would hurt my health today.
But I got the news this morning, yea, the doctors told me so.
They killed me in Vietnam, and I didn't even know.
I tried hard to forget the war like everybody did.
Settled down, got married, even had a of couple kids.
Well my children both had birth defects, and the doctors had their doubts.
They never could understand it, but I think I figured it out.
Because I got the news this morning, yea, the doctors told me so.
They killed me in Vietnam, and I didn't even know.
This Agent Orange from Vietnam, we carry it with us still.
It stays inside for years and years before it starts to kill.
You might get cancer of the liver; you might get cancer of the skin.
You can file for disability, but you might not live to win.
Oh I got the news this morning yea, the doctors told me so.
They killed me in Vietnam, and I didn't even know.
Oh the doctor said I got some time, trying to be kind.
I've never been irradical, but this has changed my mind.
Oh I'd be so proud to hear my kids say hell no I won't go,
Because you killed my dad in Vietnam, and he didn't even know.
Yes I'd be so proud to hear my kid say hell no I won't go,
Because you killed my dad and he didn't even know.