Nineteen

In 1965 Vietnam seemed like just another foreign war, but it wasn't
It was different in many ways, as so were those that did the fighting
In World War II the average age of the combat soldier was twenty-six
In Vietnam he was nineteen
In inininininin Vietnam he was nineteen.

In inininininin Vietnam, he was nineteen
In Vietnam, he was nineteen
N-n-n-n-nineteen.

The heaviest fighting of the past two weeks
Continued today twenty-five miles northwest of Saigon.

I really wasn't sure what was going on.

N-n-n-n-nineteen, nineteen
N-nineteen, nineteen.

In Vietnam the combat soldier typically served a twelve-month tour of duty
But was exposed to hostile fire almost every day.

N-n-n-n-nineteen
(N-n-n-n-nineteen) nineteen.

In Saigon a US military spokesman said today
More than seven hundred enemy troops were killed last week
In that sensitive border area
In all of South Vietnam
The enemy lost a total of two thousand six hundred eighty-nine soldiers.

All those who remember the war
They won't forget what they've seen
Destruction of men in their prime
Whose average age was nineteen.

D-d-d-d-d-destruction
D-d-d-d-d-destruction.

According to a Veteran's Administration study
Half of the Vietnam combat veterans suffered From what psychiatrists call
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Many vets complain of alienation, rage, or guilt
Some succumb to suicidal thoughts
Eight to ten years after coming home
Almost eight-hundred-thousand men
Are still fighting the Vietnam War.

None of them received a hero's welcome.

Nineteen
S-S-S-S-Saigon
Nineteen, n-n-n-n-n-ninteen
N-n-n-n-n-ninteen
Nineteen n-n-n-n-n-ninteen
N-n-n-n-n-ninteen, nineteen.

(Vietnam, S-S-S-S-Saigon)
Purple heart, Saigon
(I wasn't really sure what was going on)