Intro: A   G  D  (x2) 
 
          A 
Said goodbye to his mama as he left South Dakota 
    G                            D 
To fight for the red, white and blue 
       A                             
He was 19 and green with a new M-16  
      G                   D 
Just doin' what he had to do 
         A 
He was dropped in the jungle where the choppers would rumble 
          G                      D 
With the smell of napalm in the air 
          A                  G 
Then the sergeant said, look up ahead 
 
        A 
Like a dark evil cloud 1200 came down  
    G          D 
On him and 29 more 
       A 
They fought for their lives but most of them died 
       G         D 
In the 173rd airborne 
        A 
On the 8th of November the angels were cryin' 
         G                     D 
As they carried his brothers away 
          A 
With the fire raining down and the hell all around 
            G                          D 
There were few men left standing that day 
         F                   G 
Saw the eagle fly through a clear blue sky 
F  G                 A      G  D 
1965, the 8th of November  
     A 
Now he's 58 and his ponytail's gray 
         G                         D 
But the battle still plays in his head 
    A 
He limps when he walks but he's strong when he talks 
          G                   D 
Bout the shrapnel left in his leg 
        A 
He puts on a gray suit over his airborne tattoo 
        G                     D 
And he ties it on one time a year 
       A (one strum) 
And remembers the fallin' as he order's a tall one 
G                          D 
Swallows it down with his tears 
A   G  D  
         F (one strum)        G (one strum) 
Saw the eagle fly through a clear blue sky 
F  G (one strum each)       
1965 
 x2 (1st 4 lines then whole thing)  
          A 
Said goodbye to his mama as he left South Dakota 
    G                            D 
To fight for the red, white and blue 
       A                             
He was 19 and green with a new M-16  
      G                   D 
Just doin' what he had to do