The Trooper’s Prayer
Lyrics
by John Klawitter, ASCAP
Written
for Wounded Warriers,
the
Old Spooks And Spies Reunion,
June
2017, Cincinnati.
Inspired by a ballad by Willie Nelson
It's been rough and rocky travelin'
But I'm finally standing upright on the ground
Checked out my P.T.S.D., and surprised
to find my mind's still fairly sound
Tricked by Chi Coms down
from China
Pourin’ south across
that border wall
Made our point at Inchon
Determined there we
wasn’t gonna fall.
Could be Vietnam was the roughest
But I know we’ve said the same about them all
We received our education
In the service of this nation, standin’ tall.
Almost ambushed north of
Kabul, a little careless
After weeks without a
rest.
Sweatin’ up and down the
hills there
Don’t really bring out
your best.
And near the mosque in
Bagdad
When the bad guys strapped the bombs to kids in cars
They nearly tore my ear
off
With gasoline they
stored in small glass jars.
And comin low with
napalm blow at six hundred
miles an hour; a little
left, a little slow
took out friendlies, I
don’t know
I don’t believe the
eagle shout
“Kill em all, God sorts
it out.”
Open that door, it’s
hard to tell
The name of war, it’s
total hell.
Yeah, it's been rough and rocky travelin'
With metal legs we’re standin’ on the ground
After takin' several readings we’re surprised
To find our minds’ still fairly sound
Maybe Syria is the roughest
But I know we’ve said the same about them all
We received our education
In the service to our nation, when
you called.
It's been rough and
rocky travelin'
But we're finally standing upright on the ground
Checked out all our vitals and surprised
to find our being's still fairly sound
And
We received our
education
In the service to our
nation, when you called.
