Song Title: “We Were Killed in Vietnam (But We Just Haven’t Died Yet)” (Style: Slow, gritty country-folk ballad – think Johnny Cash meets modern veteran anthems. Acoustic guitar, harmonica, building drums on the chorus.) [Verse 1] Fifty-eight thousand names on a wall of black stone Brothers we lost in the jungle, never made it home But the real count keeps climbin’, the silent war rages on Three hundred thousand gone now, from the poison we sprayed at dawn Agent Orange rain fallin’, dioxin in our blood We thought we beat the enemy, but the enemy was the stuff [Chorus] We were killed in Vietnam, but we just haven’t died yet Walkin’ ghosts in our hometowns, payin’ off a government debt Hearts explodin’ years later, cancers eatin’ us slow We won the fight in the rice paddies, but the poison stole the show Three hundred thousand names that the history books forget Yeah, we were killed in Vietnam… but we just haven’t died yet [Verse 2] Fifty-one years after comin’ home from that hell overseas I hit the floor in my kitchen, chest on fire, beggin’ please Doctor said it was my heart, but the VA finally confessed “Ischemic” from the dioxin – your government’s toxic mess They sprayed it for the mission, said it’d save American lives Now my kids watch their old man fight the war that never dies [Chorus] We were killed in Vietnam, but we just haven’t died yet Carryin’ scars you can’t see, and a rage we can’t forget Widows and children mournin’ long after the ceasefire came The same flag that we defended, brought us poison in its name Three hundred thousand stories that the monuments neglect We were killed in Vietnam… but we just haven’t died yet [Bridge] We need another Wall standin’ tall beside the first Carved with the names of the fallen who suffered the very worst Not just the ones who fell in battle, but the ones the poison claimed The sick, the dyin’, the waitin’ – let their numbers be named A monument to the livin’ who still fight every day For the truth, for the care, for the debt we gotta repay [Final Chorus] We were killed in Vietnam, but we just haven’t died yet Let the whole damn country hear it, before the last of us forget Three hundred thousand voices callin’ from the other side “Remember what you did to us, and the ones still barely alive” Build that second Wall, let the healing stone be set ’Cause we were killed in Vietnam… Lord, we just haven’t died yet [Tag/Outro] For every brother still hangin’ on… For the ones who already paid the final price… Agent Orange didn’t stop when the planes flew home.
