I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)

Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at Puckapunyal
 It was a long march from cadets
 The sixth battalion was the next to tour, and it was me who drew the card
 We did Canungra and Shoalwater before we left
 And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay
 This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean
 And there's me in me slouch hat with me SLR and greens
 God help me
 I was only 19
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 From Vũng Tàu riding Chinooks to the dust at Nui Dat
 I'd been in and out of choppers now for months
 And we made our tents a home, V.B. and pinups on the lockers
 And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub
 And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
 And nighttime's just a jungle dark and a barking M16?
 And what's this rash that comes and goes
 Can you tell me what it means?
 God help me
 I was only 19
 A four-week operation, when each step could mean your last one on two legs
 It was a war within yourself
 But you wouldn't let your mates down 'til they had you dusted off
 So you closed your eyes and thought about somethin' else
 And then someone yelled out, "Contact", and the bloke behind me swore
 We hooked in there for hours, then a God almighty roar
 And Frankie kicked a mine, the day that mankind kicked the moon
 God help me
 He was goin' home in June
 And I can still see Frankie, drinkin' tinnies in the Grand Hotel
 On a thirty-six-hour rec leave in Vung Tau
 And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
 'Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row
 And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tears
 And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real
 I caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feel
 God help me
 I was only 19
 And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can't get to sleep?
 And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
 And what's this rash that comes and goes
 Can you tell me what it means?
 God help me
 I was only 19