Medal of Tears

My body was found today
Pulled from beneath the Golden Gate
By the coroner and a cop or two
They laid me out on a plastic sheet
Searched my body for some ID
Came across my old leather wallet
Empty, but for two pictures
Of people I never forgot
One was of my old platoon
Men who died in Vietnam
The other was of my girl
Who left before I came home
In another pocket, they found a rusty medal
Someone cried "My God, he was a hero"
I had won the medal of honor
But still I died alone

People gathered to watch the scene
Talking amongst themselves
Speculating on what might have been
What had brought me to this place
In Vietnam I was a man in charge
Of men and million dollar machines
Living through days of horror
Doing things I still can't believe
I did it all for my country
I did it all for God
When I came home there was no parade
I could not find a job
And no matter how I searched
Happiness could not be found
Even when I was stoned
No peace of mind could be found
Tormented my so many memories
Of children screaming in the dark
I keep seeing old men
Hanging in the park
I still remember the dying screams
Of both Americans and the Viet Cong
Somehow I knew even then
This war just had to be wrong

Stateside doctors tried to help me
Diagnosing me with post traumatic stress
They gave me lots of little colored pills
But nothing seemed to work
Finally the voices have grown to loud
My mind has found no peace
So many lives I have ended
Will this nightmare never cease
I know the Japanese understood
Their warriors died with honor

So the Golden Gate was my sword
And I died the death of a samurai