As you lie there in your hospital bed
Can you smell the cordite?
Can hear the sounds of battle
The yells! Of victory
The screams of pain
The weeping of young men
Wondering WHY?

As you hobble around on your crutches
Can you taste the fear?
Can you see the mortars coming?
Fireworks just for you
The dirt in your face
The leg that left you
Falling in your own blood

As you sit at your desk in the office
Can you still recall the day?
You proudly went to War
To fight for crown and country
To make your family proud
To feel proud
To come home, a Hero!

As you sit in your manicured garden
Grandsons at your feet
Do you tell them?
When they ask you
Granddad who did you kill
Do you tell them the truth?

Up in your bedroom, hung on the wall
The Medals
The Honours
The Glories of War
YET! Still
You awake in the dead of night
Yelling and sobbing with fear.

You suffered the pain
The emotional HELL
You saw your brothers die
You can still see their smiles
As your shovels scatter earth together
And you cry

Ask yourself Hero, was it worth it
The men you killed
The same age as you then
Younger men too
Lives to live
Love to give
Yet still, we killed each other

Can you still see his face?
As your bayonet slid in
You can still feel the pain
In your dummy leg
Can you still smell the cordite?
Then ask yourself
HERO! WHY?