| I was proud to be the soldier
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| I had been since '83
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| When I joined to pay for college
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| Like my brothers before me
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| I was proud to serve my country
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| And to be a fine Marine
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| But pride can not protect me
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| From the things that I have seen
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| When they shipped us out of Norfolk
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| My family came to wave
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| My Mama stood there
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| Choking back the tears and looking brave
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| And though we never spoke of it
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| We all feared it just the same
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| Now they tell me I should talk about
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| The things that I have seen
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| I was trained to take the good shot
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| I was trained to clean my gun
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| They trained me not to talk back
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| And they trained me not to run
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| I was trained to be as silent
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| As the shadow of a hawk
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| But no one trained me for the silence
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| Of the things that I have seen
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| Once I saw an accident
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| Out on Old Rt. | 
| 17
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| Mama told me not to look at it
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| As we slowly passed the scene
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| Thought the image of that wreckage
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| Was burned into my brain
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| That did not prepare me
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| For the things that I have seen
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| I thought I was a good man
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| I thought I was elite
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| I thought I’d fight the good fight
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| And that I’d never see defeat
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| Then we won that bloody war
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| And how we laughed at their retreat
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| Now I wage a losing battle
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| Against the things that I have seen
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| Be glad that modern science
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| Has given us so much
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| We can rifle through the channels
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| Without ever standing up
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| But I can’t find a station
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| That hasn’t had enough
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| Of this morbid fascination
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| With the things that I have seen
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| And me, I can’t stop dreaming
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| About the things that I have seen |