I didn't have to come here
But my country needed me..
Patriotic duty
be all that I can be.
Came here just a boy
Grew up to be a man
Now I lay here leaving
Bloodstains in the sand
I ain't nobody's hero
Just momma's little boy
Standing up for freedom
Like my dad did before
I ain't looking for no glory
After I am gone
Just tell my folks I love them
When you take my body home..
You just don't think of dying
When you're barely turned eighteen
Courage is just a word
Until you face reality...
I did my best to stand up tall
And make my family proud
And as I lay here dying
I'm thinking of them now
I remember momma cryin'
As I walked out the door
Shakin' hands with my old man
As I went off to war..
If I could start all over
I'd be a better son
Please tell my folks I love all of them
When you take my body home
I didn't have to come here
But my country needed me
I served with pride and honor
With others just like me..
And as I lay here dying
I only want to know
Will you tell my folks I love them
When you take my body home
And as I lay here dying
I only want to know
Will you tell my folks I love them
When you take my body home..
But my country needed me..
Patriotic duty
be all that I can be.
Came here just a boy
Grew up to be a man
Now I lay here leaving
Bloodstains in the sand
I ain't nobody's hero
Just momma's little boy
Standing up for freedom
Like my dad did before
I ain't looking for no glory
After I am gone
Just tell my folks I love them
When you take my body home..
You just don't think of dying
When you're barely turned eighteen
Courage is just a word
Until you face reality...
I did my best to stand up tall
And make my family proud
And as I lay here dying
I'm thinking of them now
I remember momma cryin'
As I walked out the door
Shakin' hands with my old man
As I went off to war..
If I could start all over
I'd be a better son
Please tell my folks I love all of them
When you take my body home
I didn't have to come here
But my country needed me
I served with pride and honor
With others just like me..
And as I lay here dying
I only want to know
Will you tell my folks I love them
When you take my body home
And as I lay here dying
I only want to know
Will you tell my folks I love them
When you take my body home..
Contributed by giorgio - 2013/5/12 - 11:00
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Lyrics & Music by John W. Ashby
Album: Pieces of My Heart
"I wrote the first line ("I didn't have to come here but my country needed me")as a military rookie in 1975 flying over South-east Asia, (looked down at the jungle and was damn glad I was in the Air Force) picked it up again a couple years ago and finished. 20 years of military experience helped me to understand and appreciate what I was trying to say. Remembering how my mother and father reacted as I was enlisting in 1973 supplied the emotion behind the words.