The grave that they dug him had flowers Gathered from the hillsides in bright summer colors And the brown earth bleached white At the edge of his gravestone He's gone When the wars of our nation did beckon The man, barely twenty, did answer the calling Proud of the trust That he placed in our nation He's gone But eternity knows him And it knows what we've done And the rain fell like pearls On the leaves of the flowers Leaving brown, muddy clay Where the earth had been dry And deep in the trench He waited for hours As he held to his rifle And prayed not to die But the silence of night Was shattered by fire As the guns and grenades Blasted sharp through the air One after another His comrades were slaughtered In the morgue of marines Alone, standing there He crouched ever lower Ever lower, with fear "They can't let me die They can't let me die here! I'll cover myself With the mud and the earth I'll cover myself I know I'm not brave! The earth, the earth The earth is my grave." The grave that they dug him had flowers Gathered from the hillsides in bright summer colors And the brown earth bleached white At the edge of his gravestone He's gone