I was proud to be the soldier I had been since '83
When I joined to pay for college, like my brothers before me
I was proud to serve my country and to be a fine Marine
But pride cannot protect me from the things that I have seen
When they shipped us out of Norfolk, my family came to wave
My Mama stood there choking back the tears and looking brave
And though we never spoke of it, we all feared it just the same
Now they tell me I should talk about the things that I have seen
I was trained to take the good shot, I was trained to clean my gun
They trained me not to talk back and they trained me not to run
And I was trained to be as silent as the shadow of a hawk
No one trained me for the silence of the things that I have seen
And once I saw an accident on Old Route 17
Mama told me not to look at it, as we slowly passed the scene
Though the image of that wreckage was burned into my brain
That did not prepare me for the things that I have seen
I thought I was a good man, I thought I was elite
I thought I'd fight the good fight, that I'd never see defeat
And that we'd won that bloody war, how we laughed at their retreat
Now I wage a losing battle against the things that I have seen
Just be glad modern science has given us so much
We can rifle through the channels without ever standing up
But I can't find a station that's finally had enough
Of this morbid fascination with the things that I have seen
And me, I can't stop dreaming of these things that I have seen