black Granite battalion


In the mud of the Mekong Delta
On the red clay of a highland hill
Seals and nurses, rangers and grunts
Have given some and some gave it all
On the firebase and the runways
From the flight deck in the Tonkin Gulf
In fields of rice, on the jungle floor
To give it all was not enough

black Granite battalion, gone not forgotten
Could use you now, in this world so rotten
Truer hearts than most will ever know...
black Granite battalion, where did you go?

Frenzied firefight in the Valley
No dust off, too hot to land
Rockets, mortars, grenades and guns
Have given Death a helping hand
Can't forget the eyes or the smile
Would you have done the same for him?
When it comes, the end of the line
You'd want to have friends like them

black Granite battalion, gone not forgotten
Could use you now, in this world so rotten 
Truer hearts than most will ever know...
black Granite battalion, where did you go?

Their names are carved in black granite
Where they wait for those to come
In the city of the free and the brave
With those before and names unknown
For they will not be the last ones
That have to put aside their fears
The cost of our freedom they pay
On a debt never cleared

black Granite battalion, gone not forgotten
Could use you now, in this world so rotten 
Truer hearts than most will ever know...
black Granite battalion, where did you go?

black Granite battalion, gone not forgotten
Could use you now, in this world so rotten
Truer hearts than most will ever know...
black Granite battalion, why did you go?

Unpublished Work © 2000 David P. Elfert