Intro: A5   G5  D5  (x2) 
 
          A5 
Said goodbye to his mama as he left South Dakota 
    G5                            D5 
To fight for the red, white and blue 
       A5                             
He was 19 and green with a new M-16  
      G5                   D5 
Just doin' what he had to do 
         A5 
He was dropped in the jungle where the choppers would rumble 
          G5                      D5 
With the smell of napalm in the air 
          A5                  G5 
Then the sergeant said, look up ahead 
 

        A5 
Like a dark evil cloud 1200 came down  
    G5          D5 
On him and 29 more 
       A5 
They fought for their lives but most of them died 
       G5         D5 
In the 173rd airborne 
        A5 
On the 8th of November the angels were cryin' 
         G5                     D5 
As they carried his brothers away 
          A5 
With the fire raining down and the hell all around 
            G5                          D5 
There were few men left standing that day 
         F5                   G5 
Saw the eagle fly through a clear blue sky 
F5  G5                 A5      G5  D5 
1965, the 8th of November  
     A5 
Now he's 58 and his ponytail's gray 
         G5                         D5 
But the battle still plays in his head 
    A5 
He limps when he walks but he's strong when he talks 
          G5                   D5 
Bout the shrapnel left in his leg 
        A5 
He puts on a gray suit over his airborne tattoo 
        G5                     D5 
And he ties it on one time a year 
       A5 (one strum ) 
And remembers the fallin' as he order's a tall one 
G5                          D5 
Swallows it down with his tears 
A5   G5  D5  

         F5 (one strum )        G5 (one strum ) 
Saw the eagle fly through a clear blue sky 
F5  G5 (one strum each)       
1965 

 x2 (1st 4 lines then whole thing)  
          A5 
Said goodbye to his mama as he left South Dakota 
    G5                            D5 
To fight for the red, white and blue 
       A5                             
He was 19 and green with a new M-16  
      G5                   D5 
Just doin' what he had to do