The Honor of Green & Orange

My mama cried the day my daddy

left for Vietnam.

Two cousins had gone before him

and they did not return.

As he proudly wore his uniform
and Green Beret,

She dried her tears and smiled
at him,

I still can hear her say

Chorus

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
let His light shine on you now.

There’s no telling where you’re going,
but He'll get you there somehow.

You must give it your full measure
as He gave his only Son,

May the Lord bless you and keep you
till the final race is run.

Dodging bullets and mines,

Daddy came back safely to our home.

He hugged us oh so tightly and

said how very much we'd grown.

He raised us to give God and

country always our very best.

He proudly said the day he pinned wings
on my brother’s chest Chorus

A wall in Washington lists those

who didn’t make it home.

A memorial plaque stands up for those

who later died and
aren’t carved in stone.

It took eighteen years for Agent Orange

to put that brave man down.

They gave a 21-gun salute when they

laid him in the ground.

My mama cried the day my brother

left for Kandahar,

Too many men and women had gone before him

and not come back from afar.

But he had honor and a duty and

she knew he couldn’t stay,

When she dried her tears and smiled at him,

Tune available and am open to requests to set to music/pictures to benefit disabled veterans.

"Homage to Vietnam" was written by Dr. G. R. McCahan, Jr., Maj.

U. S. Army, Retired.

Dad displayed "Homage" and "Liturgy," magnets stuck to his van, and which are now on my home refrigerator.

The flag was presented to my mother at his funeral; atop it is his green beret.