19 - Destruction Mix

In 1965 Vietnam seemed like just another foreign war but it wasn't
 It was different in many ways, as so were tose that did the fighting
 In World War II the average age of the combat soldier was 26
 In Vietnam he was 19
 In-in-in Vietnam he was 19
 The shooting and fighting of the past two weeks continued today
 25 miles west of Saigon
 I really wasn't sure what was going on
 Ni-ni-ni 19, 19, ni-19 19
 19, 19, 19, 19
 In Vietnam the combat soldier typically served
 A twelve month tour of duty
 But was exposed to hostile fire almost everyday
 Ni-ni-ni 19, Ni-ni-ni 19
 Hundreds of thousands of men who saw heavy combat
 In Vietnam were arrested since discharge
 Their arrest rate is almost twice that of non-veterans of the same age
 There are no accurate figures of how many of these men
 Have been incarcerated
 But a Veterans Administration study
 Concludes that the greater of vets
 Exposure to combat could more likely affect his chances
 Of being arrested or convicted
 This is one legacy of the Vietnam War
 All those who remember the war
 They won't forget what they've seen
 Destruction of men in their prime
 Whose average was 19
 De-de-destruction
 De-de-destruction
 War, war
 De-de-destruction, wa, wa, war, wa, war, war
 De-de-destruction
 War, war
 After World War II the men came home together on troop ships
 But the Vietnam vet often arrived home within 48 hours of jungle combat
 Perhaps the most dramatic difference between
 World War II and Vietnam was coming home
 None of them received a hero's welcome
 None of them received a heroes welcome, none of them, none of them
 Ne-ne-ne, ne-ne-ne, none of them, none of them, none of them
 None of them received a hero's welcome
 None of them received a hero's welcome
 According to a Veteran's Administration study
 Half of the Vietnam combat veterans suffered from what
 Psychiatrists call
 Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder
 Many vets complain of alienation, rage or guilt
 Some succumb to suicidal thoughts
 Eight to ten years after coming home
 Almost eight hundred thousand men are still fighting the Vietnam War
 De-de-destruction
 Ni-ni-ni 19, 19, ni19 19
 19, 19, 19, 19
 Ni-ni-ni 19, 19, ni-19 19
 19, 19, 19, 19
 When we came back it was different, everybody wants to know
 "How'd it happened to those guys over there?
 There's gotta be something wrong somewhere
 We did what we had to do
 There's gotta be something wrong somewhere
 People wanted us to be ashamed of what it made us
 Dad had no idea what he went to fight and he is now
 All we want to do is come home
 All we want to do is come home
 What did we do it for?
 All we want to do is come home
 Was it worth it