SQUAD

What was it like, being infantry?

It's a job you never leave

Because you're too aware that if you stop doing it

Someone else will

Don't talk necessary to me

Breakfast is for you, because you like it

Breakfast is for me, because I need it

Is your breakfast necessary to me?

I fight for it anyway, here

Wherever here happens to be - and the brass

Happen to know of quite a few holes that need us

They made me an NCO

Because I knew to not look over that ridge

Not with anything less than a tank at least

Damn straight, said my commanding officer

Never call your day a drag

When you've never dragged your wounded friend through enemy fire

Call it uncomfortable, and leave it at that

The word "comfortable" was the first thing I lost when I joined

But it didn't mean that I didn't find others

War is Hell, they say

Look, they don't pay you in Hell

They do in the Marines

Survive? You end up hoping the man next to you does - actually

You pick up your rifle and make sure he does

We have differences of opinion in this world

But those who don't have the courage to fight

Lose the right to complain

When they come and take more than your rights

Necessary. That's what I am

Even though I may take the first bullet

I do get the last word

In the Star-Spangled banner

And that word is "brave"

So before you look down on me for my pay grade

Know that I made the grade

One that you might not be able to make

And the feeling that I traded comfort for meaning

Is surprisingly hard to shake

We all gotta go sometime

But were you a team player when you did

Or did you always think life was just about you

The red, white, and blue

I have respect for the other crew

They have a country too

Now they call me "sir"

Because I know what to do with the blur

And an Abram's whir

What do I know for sure?

America, I'll die for her

They don't call me crazy

And never call me lazy

They might think it's sad

That it can get so bad

But you know what? I'm glad

War isn't a fad

You can say the word honor

Before you're a goner

But does that mean you get to breathe it

Instead of just leave it

For the next guy

Some things you'll never understand

Until you've been one with the sand

For only a few grand

And the feeling of your hand

On the trigger

What's heaven worth?

We keep guys in Leavenworth

Until they learn

That only the right kind of burn

Do we allow in this corps

So if you're tired

Or maybe just fired

Know that trigger

If it was pulled with vigor

Just did something

That may not be a dumb thing

Because that flag flies

And nothing it stands for dies

As long as I'm willing

To put up with the killing

And make sure your fired

Turns into hired

When I was just sired

By the bullets that just mired

My whole platoon

I won't see you soon

What is my fate?

At least your breakfast you ate

But your country, I kept great

And if I live

It doesn't mean my life

I didn't still give