Universal Soldier
by Buffy Sainte Marie, sung by Donovan

(This song perfectly expresses the often heard military term “cannon fodder.”)

He is five foot two,
and he’s six feet four,
he fights with missiles and with spears,
he is all of thirty-one,
and he’s only a seventeen,
he’s been a soldier for a thousand years.

He’s a Catholic, a Hindu,
an atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist, and a Baptist and a Jew,
and he knows, he shouldn’t kill,
and he knows, he always will,
care for me, my friend, and I will care for you.

And he’s fighting for Canada,
he’s fighting for France,
he’s fighting for the USA
and he’s fighting for the Russians,
and he’s fighting for Japan,
and he thinks we put an end to war this way.

And he’s fighting for democracy,
he’s fighting for the Reds,
he says it’s for the peace of all,
he’s the one who must decide,
who’s to live and who’s to die,
and he never sees the writing on the wall.

But without him, how would Hitler
kill the people at Dachau,
without him Cesar would have stood alone,
he’s the one, who gives his body
as a weapon of the war,
and without him always killing can’t go on.

He’s the universal soldier,
and he really is to blame,
his orders came from far away, no more,
they came from here and there,
and you and me and brothers,
can’t you see,
this is not the way we put the end to war.

 

 

 

I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag
Country Joe & The Fish

(This song was played frequently by Hannah and it often got POWs laughing and keeping time with the beat. It’s a Vietnam War classic by Country Joe MacDonald, whom I later met and spoke with at several presentations.)

Well come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He’s got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We’re gonna have a whole lotta fun.

And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

Well, come on generals, let’s move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Gotta go out and get those reds –
The only good commie is the one that’s dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we’ve blown ’em all to kingdom come.

And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

Come on Wall Street, don’t move slow,
Why man, this is war au-go-go.
There’s plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.

And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

Now come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, don’t hesitate,
Send ’em off before it’s too late.
Be the first one on your block
To have your boy come home in a box.

And it’s one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.

 

 

 

 

With God on Our Side
by Bob Dylan

(Religion always serves as an instrument to play a motivational part in war, no matter which faith. Amazingly Dylan wrote this powerful song when he was only 16 years old.)

Oh my name it is nothin’
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I’s taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side.

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The Indians fell
The cavalries charged
The Indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side.

Oh the Spanish-American
War had its day
And the Civil War too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
I’s made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side.

Oh the First World War, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you don’t count the dead
When God’s on your side.

When the Second World War
Came to an end
We forgave the Germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The Germans now too
Have God on their side.

I’ve learned to hate Russians
All through my whole life
If another war starts
It’s them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side.

But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them we’re forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When God’s on your side.

In a many dark hour
I’ve been thinkin’ about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can’t think for you
You’ll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.

So now as I’m leavin’
I’m weary as Hell
The confusion I’m feelin’
Ain’t no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If God’s on our side
He’ll stop the next war.

 

The House I Live In
by Robinson/Allen, sung by Frank Sinatra

(This song is taken from the sound track of the 1945 movie of the same name, with Frank Sinatra. It doesn’t indulge in nationalistic or militaristic rhetoric. And it expresses some of my feelings for what I love about our country.)

What is America to me?
A name, a map, or a flag I see;
A certain word, democracy.
What is America to me?

The house I live in,
A plot of earth, a street,
The grocer and the butcher,
And the people that I meet,

The children in the playground,
The faces that I see,
All races and religions,
That’s America to me.

The place I work in,
The worker at my side,
The little town or city
Where my people lived and died.

The howdy and the handshake,
The air of feeling free,
And the right to speak my mind out,
That’s America to me.

The things I see about me,
The big things and the small,
The little corner newsstand,
And the house a mile tall;

The wedding and the churchyard,
The laughter and the tears,
A