Shelby Singleton - Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley lyrics

Once upon a time there was a little boy who wanted to grow up And be a soldier and serve his country in whatever way he could He would parade around the house with a sauce pan on his head For a helmet, a wooden sword in one hand and the American flag in the other As he grew up, he put away the things of a child but he never let go of the flag My name is William Calley, I'm a soldier of this land I've tried to do my duty and to gain the upper hand But they've made me out a villain they have stamped me with a brand As we go marching on I'm just another soldier from the shores of U.S.A Forgotten on a battle field then thousand miles away While life goes on as usual from New York to Santa Fe As we go marching on I've seen my buddies ambushed on the left and on the right And their youthful bodies riddled by the bullets of the night Where all the rules are broken and the only law is might As we go marching on While we're fighting in the jungles they were marching in the street While we're dying in the rice fields they were helping our defeat While we're facing V.C. bullets they were sounding a retreat As we go marching on With our sweat we took the bunkers, with our tears we took the plain With our blood we took the mountains and they gave it back again Still all of us are soldiers, we're too busy to complain As we go marching on When I reach my final campground in that land beyond the sun And the great commander asks me, "Did you fight or did you run?" I'll stand both straight and tall stripped of medals, rank and gun And this is what I'll say Sir, I followed all my orders and I did the best I could It's hard to judge the enemy and hard to tell the good Yet there's not a man among us would not have understood We took the jungle village exactly like they said We responded to their rifle fire with everything we had And when the smoke had cleared away a hundred souls lay dead Sir, the soldier that's alive is the only once can fight There's no other way to wage a war when the only one in sight That you're sure is not a VC is your buddy on your right When all the wars are over and the battle's finally won Count me only as a soldier who never left his gun With the right to serve my country as the only prize I've won As we go marching on Glory, glory hallelujah glory, glory hallelujah