• A soldier called his mother
    From San Fransico Bay
    Said, 'Mother, I'll be coming home
    But hear me, what I say.
    I want to bring a buddy,
    Please, Mom, if you don't mind
    He has but one arm, one leg, one eye
    And needs your love so kind.'
    The mother told her soldier
    With a harsh and bitter tone
    'No don't bring your buddy here!
    Find him another home!
    We sure don't need a handicap to be here in the way'
    Days later came the telegraph
    The soldier boy was dead
    He took his life
    They found a note
    And this is what it said:
    'No don't bring your buddy here'
    His mother's words were they
    'We sure don't need a handicap
    To be here in the way'
    At last the wheels stopped turning
    As the mother met the train
    She came to get her soldier boy
    With tears that felt like rain
    She looked into the cold steel casket
    To kiss her son goodbye
    And his body bore
    The marks of war:
    One arm, one leg, one eye