They went to war as patriots
Full of the heady lust for valor.
They were left with a nightmare’s scourge,
Bearing the mark of a death head’s pallor.

They were lauded for their great courage,
For their bravery and their skill,
But their nightmares will always haunt them,
As will the children they did kill.

Their fathers raised up mighty flags,
By the homes of worried mom’s,
As tanks raised plumes of bitter dust,
Easy prey for roadside bombs.

Fat men in suits sit in comfort,
Wagging tongues which can only lie,
Whilst frightened boys jump at every shadow,
Were the law is to kill or die.

Daughters are sent into battle,
Where no maiden should ever go,
While our corpulent masters scream freedom,
Which a job slave will never know.

Great war machine consumed them,
Where our factories have once stood,
An “All Volunteer Army” is gnawing,
On the bones of our neighborhood.

Our jobs have gone to other nations,
Ones which we have defeated in war,
Our taxes were spent to rebuild them,
And our dead have been keeping the score.

Our sons and daughters return,
From warfare battered and bent,
While Generals pin on them medals,
As they scream in their inner lament.

Who will pay for the murder of many,
For the bombing of children in bed?
Our soldiers themselves will atone for our sins,
as our masters sleep happy and fed.