Johnny Got His Gun

***

David went to Canada
Dick got a college deferment
Charlie was a conscientious objector
George joined the National Guard
Sam was classified 4F
And Johnny got his gun

We all know what happened to Johnny
Shot down in Nam
A victim of the Tet Offensive
A living thinking mind trapped in a body
Paralyzed to the eyes

Johnny got his gun and 58,000 of his brothers came home in a box
Millions of Asian Johnnies died by our bombs
Hundreds of thousands came home with broken bodies
Broken hearts broken minds broken spirits
Souls shattered by the horror of war

Forty years later a terrorist strike
We send our kids to war with bitterroot
Star spangled distorted sight

How many more must die to appease the god of vengeance?
How many more for an imagined victory parade?
How many more to pretend they did not die in vain?

Fallujah and Wounded Knee
Ramadi and Sand Creek
Abu Ghraib and the Trail of Tears

My Lai and Haditha

We can bury the dead but we cannot bury the truth

David went to Canada and Johnny got his gun


Jazz.