50 Years

50 years I returned

To the places we burned

To the places our aircraft firebombed

With my questions and concerns

Was there anything to learn

On my visit to the land of Vietnam

I was born a lucky one

Educated and too young

I escaped the forced march into madness

But as that country bled

And generals counted up the dead

Our youth was filled with anguish and with sadness

My friends listened to the stories of returning warriors

Who dealt with loneliness and guilt that they did harm

We had questions and concerns

Could they tell us they learned

On their visit to the land of Vietnam

With our facts and story strait

We ran out to demonstrate

Armed with slogans, signs and singing protest songs

With my comrades in the street,

We predicted our defeat

Hoping then our nation would confront its wrongs

We were killing people far away we'd never met before

Who were seeking independence and were locked in civil war

With my questions and concerns

Was there anything to learn

From the people who we fought in Vietnam

50 years I returned

To the places we burned

To the places that our aircraft firebombed

With all my questions and concerns

There was so much that I learned

On my visit to the land of Vietnam

On my visit to the land of Vietnam