Memorial Day

I saw the men in the parking lot
Outside the Dunkin Donut shop
Gold braid shining bright
And those hats so white
Promised me a brand new way
With the few, the proud, and the brave

Yesterday I was hanging around
Checking out the girls downtown
Now I'm here in a foreign land
With this gun in my hand
I know my job and I'll do it right
Just want to make it home all right

Down on Main at the recruiting center
They talk about how it's going to be better
Learn a discipline and a skill
And while we're at it learn how to kill
Our great country's enemy
Going to build a better me

Yesterday I was hanging around
With my friends at the mall downtown
The friends I came with are safe from harm
One in a box and one with no arms
I know my job and I'll do it right
Just want to make it home all right

Momma hope you got my letter today
Looks like it was all I had to say
You would be proud if you had seen
Me and all the other Marines
Darkness fell and they zipped me in a bag
You will know when they bring the folded flag

Yesterday I was joking around
With my brother and my sister downtown
Though I leave a hole in our family
I'll live on in your memory
I did my job and I did it right
But I didn't make it home all right

I don't regret my sacrifice
Can't help but think wouldn't it be nice
If we who step up again and again
Would be the ones who bring the end
Of all the death and misery
From war we would at last be free

Yesterday I was hanging around
Now I'm nowhere to be found
I signed up and took a stand
Died in a foreign land
I did my job and did it right
I paid the ultimate price

Remember that for you I died
For you my momma cried
America, honor us who gave
You the name, 'Home of the Brave'
Do the things you need to do
To be forever free and true

Yesterday I was around
Now I'm gone