There was a war long years ago

All gone, All gone, away my Boys

Our men shipped out to meet the dreaded foe

All gone, away.

Fresh uniforms, the guns all shined and new

They marched away red, white and blue

They shipped to France and fought at St. Mihiel

To be baptized by cannon shell

A million strong they marched to the forest of

Argonne

Argonne, Argonne away my boys

The columns stretched a good eight miles long

General Pershing sat in his headquarters far behind

And gave the order to charge the German line

The generals blundered and they gave the word

To charge the guns and our men were massacred

And twenty-six thousand killed on one fall day

And twenty-six thousand men on the cold ground lay

One man, Sgt. York, of Tennessee

Was recognized for his heroic bravery

And Sgt York was sent home to ride in great parades

To draw attention from mistakes the generals made.

A senseless war that never should have been

A graveyard for sixteen million men.

And it was treason to ask why those good men should die

And so the people bought a dreadful lie.

A senseless war does not grow noble with the years

Instead of flowers we should leave our tears