One mornin' at breakfast I said to my wife We've been everywhere once and some places twice As I had another helpin' of country ham She said we ain't never been to Vietnam There's a bunch of our boys over there so we went to the Orient Saigon
Well we got a big welcome when we drove in To the gates of a place that they call Longh Bin We checked in and everything got kinda quiet But a soldier boy said just wait till tonight Things get noisy things start happenin' big bad fire crackers
Well that night we did about four shows for the boys And they were livin' it up with a whole lotta noise We did our last song for the night And we crawled into bed for some peace and quiet But things weren't peaceful and things weren't quiet things were scary
Well for a few minutes June never said one word And I thought at first that she hadn't heard Then a shell exploded not two miles away She sat up in bed and I heard her say What was that I said that was a shell or a bomb She said I'm scared I said me too
Well all night long that noise kept on And the sound would chill you right to the bone The bullets and the bombs and the motor shells Shook our bed every time one fell And it never let up it was gonna get worse before it got any better
Well when the sun came up the noise died down We got a few minutes sleep and we were sleepin' sound Then a soldier knocked on our door and said The last night they brought in seven dead And fourteen wounded and would we come Down to the base hospital and see the boys yeah
So we went to the hospital warded by day And ever night with the singin' away Then the shells and the bombs till dawn again And the helicopters brought in the wounded men Night after night day after day comin' and a goin'
So we sadly sang for them our last song And reluctantly we said so long We did our best to let 'em know that we care For ever last one of them that's over there Whether we belong over there or not Somebody over here loves 'em and needs 'em
Well now that's about all that there is to tell About that little trip into livin' hell And if I ever go back over there anymore Hope there's none of our boys there for me to sing for I hope that war's over with and they all come back home to stay in peace
