

Prompt / Lyrics
A peacetime soldier at seventeen I just wanted to escape, it was after nam Basic done, they sent me on a plane ride Somewhere far away, I just wanted to earn my pay And they call me a peacetime veteran Like the swear carried no weight I’m just a peacetime vet Never heard of the DMZ Naive, just a kid, just a teen The 38th parallel, Where I heard it was real hell I was now there And they called me a peacetime veteran I was made to wear the name and never cared You’re just a peacetime vet Ingman Range in ’81 commotion came like a thunderstorm Black helmets in jeeps came charging in The sound of fire was never strange But something terrible struck that day. I’m just a peacetime Veteran. At Ingman Range, four men died that day From an attack that came from within “You’re just a peacetime vet” As if no blood was ever shed A peacetime vet But I can’t forget the dead Kwangju, a city on fire Driving a KATUSA general through the wire Couldn’t speak the language, just a detail But I saw the smoke, I heard the wail Many dead, and still they said “You’re just a peacetime veteran” Like the years don’t bear a cost peacetime vet But I know what we all lost I’m just a peacetime veteran Two years in the Infantry Division There was a ville, a black-market mission Where thunder runs roared through the night Trading shadows just to get by Strange kind of order in a stranger life They call me a peacetime vet Like it all just fades away A peacetime vet But those nights still burn today I’m just a peacetime vet Years later I learned the worst Rainbow herbicides stained the earth Where I had crawled low in the dirt for two years Who knew what damage lived unseen? And still they call me a peacetime vet Like the story held no pain A peacetime vet was a name of shame But the poison Came and still remains I’m just a peace time Vet
Tags
blues, twang
4:00
No
10/2/2025