Johnny Cash (Tom Russell) Veterans Day Lyrics

Veterans Day
Johnny Cash (Tom Russell}

Well I used to hang out down at the VFW hall
And stare at the photographs up on the wall
Of the neighborhood boys that died
in the wars we've been through
And the hand lettered sign that said
remember Jimmy McGrew

Well Jimmy went to Nam back in 1965
But there's a lot of men here that think
Jimmy McGrew's still alive
Though they carved his name
on a stone in Washington DC
His brother said that stone
don't prove a thing to me

[ guitar ]

There's a hot rain fallin'
on the back streets of Saigon
There's an old soldier stumblin' down the alley
with his mama-san
Lord his eyes are cloudy
and his arms are black and blue
He's just hangin' by a thread
and he looks like Jimmy McGrew

It's veteran's day and the skies are gray
Leave the uniforms home cause
there ain't gonna be a parade
But we'll fill up a glass for the ones
that didn't make it through
And leave a light in the window tonight
for Jimmy McGrew
And keep it burnin' bright
there may still be a lot of Jimmy McGrews over there
But we'll fill up a glass for the ones
that didn't make it through
And leave a light in the window tonight
for Jimmy McGrew