Richard Morris

I wrote these peace and war songs between June 1967 and May 1968. At that time I was a rifle platoon leader, company executive officer (Alpha Co.), and battalion communications officer with the 1st Cavalry Division, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry (2/5 Cavalry) in the Republic of Vietnam. Skytroopers, John Wesley (a black point man), Charlie, and Bong Son Bridge express the warrior's spirit; Chanh Giao Cave, horror; Diggin a Hole, The Chaplain, and When's The Sun Gonna Shine On Camp Evans, fear; Charlie's Gone, my mystification at the NVA disappearance from Khe Sahn in 1968; You Ain't Alone, despair. I consider The Chaplain my best song of peace. Together We Can Empty The South China Sea, It's A Long Row To Hoe, The Plague, and Sing A Toast express anger and frustration at the lack of popular support for the war. The rest are love songs. Mirage, Barbara, and I Needed A Girl Like Barbara were written for my wife, whom I met when I was in Officer Candidate School at Ft. Benning, Georgia and she was a student at Auburn University. We were married in Auburn three months before I went to Nam and are together today. Her letters and care packages helped "keep me going" during the war. Go to Sleep, is a lullaby I later sang to our children. The war songs reflect my passions at a time when our nation was fighting to contain international Communism. Since then I have come to respect the views of those who opposed the war, which I now believe was a terrible mistake. I am horrified at what indiscriminate shooting and bombing can do. Back then I was a hawk. Now I'm a dove. I hope the songs "strike a chord" in you¯soldiers and civilians alike¯we who have fought so many wars together.