I am a veteran of the war 
I up and joined the army back in 1964 
At sixteen I just had to be a man at any cost 
I volunteered for Vietnam where I got my leg shot off 
I recall a quote from a movie that said "who's more a man 
Than a man with a reason that's worth dyin' for" 

They had me standing on the front line 
They had me standing on the front line 
They had me standing on the front line 
But now I stand at the back of the line when it comes to gettin' ahead 

They gave me a uniform and a tiny salty pill 
To stop the big urge I might have for the wrong kind of thrill 
They put a gun in my hand and said, "shoot until he's dead" 
But it's hard to kill when 'please your friend' echoes through your head 

Brought up in church taught no man should take another's life 
But then put in a jungle where life has no price 

They had me standing on the front line 
They had me standing on the front line 
They had me standing on the front line 
But now I stand at the back of the line when it comes to gettin' ahead 

Back in the world the paper reads today 
Another war is in the brewing 
But what about the lives of yesterday 
And the many happy families that have been ruined 

My niece is a hooker and my nephew's a junkie too 
But they say I have no right to tell them how they should do 
They laugh and say "quit bragging" 'bout the war you should never have been in 
But my mind is so brain-washed I'd prob'bly go back and do it again 

I walk the neighborhood parading my purple heart 
With a fear of agent orange that no one will stop 

They had me standing on the front line 
They had me standing on the front line 
They had me standing on the front line 
But now I stand at the back of the line when it comes to gettin' ahead 

[Repeat 2 times...fade out]