ONLY NINETEENRedgum
Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing out parade at PuckapunyalIt was a long march from cadetsThe sixth battalion was the next to tourand it was me who drew the cardWe did Canungra and shoal water before we left
And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quayThis clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and cleanAnd there's me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greensGod help me I was only nineteen
From Vung Tau riding chinooks to the dust at Nui DatI'd been in and out of choppers now for monthsBut we made our tents a home, VB, and pinups on the lockersAnd an Asian Orange sunset though the scrub
And can you tell me doctor why I still can't get to sleepAnd why nighttime's just a jungle dark and a barking M16And what's this rash that comes and goes can you tell me what it meansGod help me, I was only nineteen
A four week operation every step could be your last one on two legsIt was a war within yourselfBut you wouldn't let your mates down till they had you dusted offso you closed your eyes and thought about something else
Then someone yelled out "contact" and a bloke behind me sworeWe hooked in there for hours then a god almighty roarFrankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moonGod help me, he was going home in June
I can still see Frankie lying drinking tinnies in the Grand HotelOn a thirty six hour rec leave in Vung TauAnd I can still see Frankie lying screaming in the jungletill the morphine came and killed the bloody row
And the Anzac legends didn't mention mud and blood and tearsAnd the stories that my father told me never seemed quite realI caught some pieces in my back that I didn't even feelGod help me I was only nineteen
And can you tell me doctor why I still can't get to sleepAnd why the channel seven chopper chills me to my feetAnd what's this rash that comes and goes can you tell me what it meansGod help me, I was only nineteen..