Once upon a time there was a little boy who wanted
to grow up
And be a soldier and serve his country in whatever
way he could
He would parade around the house with a sauce pan
on his head
For a helmet, a wooden sword in one hand and the
American flag in the other
As he grew up, he put away the things of a child
but he never let go of the flag

My name is William Calley, I'm a soldier of this
land
I've tried to do my duty and to gain the upper
hand
But they've made me out a villain they have
stamped me with a brand
As we go marching on

I'm just another soldier from the shores of U.S.A.
Forgotten on a battle field then thousand miles
away
While life goes on as usual from New York to Santa
Fe
As we go marching on

I've seen my buddies ambushed on the left and on
the right
And their youthful bodies riddled by the bullets
of the night
Where all the rules are broken and the only law is
might
As we go marching on

While we're fighting in the jungles they were
marching in the street
While we're dying in the rice fields they were
helping our defeat
While we're facing V.C. bullets they were sounding
a retreat
As we go marching on

With our sweat we took the bunkers, with our tears
we took the plain
With our blood we took the mountains and they gave
it back again
Still all of us are soldiers, we're too busy to
complain
As we go marching on

When I reach my final campground in that land
beyond the sun
And the great commander asks me, \"Did you fight
or did you run?\"
I'll stand both straight and tall stripped of
medals, rank and gun
And this is what I'll say:

Sir, I followed all my orders and I did the best I
could
It's hard to judge the enemy and hard to tell the
good
Yet there's not a man among us would not have
understood

We took the jungle village exactly like they said
We responded to their rifle fire with everything
we had
And when the smoke had cleared away a hundred
souls lay dead

Sir, the soldier that's alive is the only once can
fight
There's no other way to wage a war when the only
one in sight
That you're sure is not a VC is your buddy on your
right

When all the wars are over and the battle's
finally won
Count me only as a soldier who never left his gun
With the right to serve my country as the only
prize I've won
As we go marching on
Glory, glory hallelujah glory, glory hallelujah