The color guard held Old Glory high
It was Veterans Day in the Town Square
There stood an old Soldier, a tear in his eye
In his uniform, pressed but threadbare

You could tell he'd worn it each Veterans' Day
With his medals all polished and bright
He spoke to the crowd" There's a price to pay
When we send off our young men to fight

For God and Country and Uncle Sam
For the freedom of those who aren't free
France, the Philippines, Korea, Vietnam
And those wars that are still yet to be

It's those left behind that trouble my mind
When this old soldier can't sleep at night
It's been fifty years, but in dying I find
That our missing ones must be made right

Where is our honor, where is our pride
In this debt we can never repay?
American heroes led away, hands tied
This great country has nothing to say

My son's over there, it was sixty-five Mother
Prayed each night till she died
Her words were "Daddy, he's still alive,
And I pray that My God's by his side."

"I know next year that I won't be here
Like this uniform I've seen better days
I ask that just one of you shed my tears
For our Missing Ones, so far away.