Mike: Rythym Guitar/Vocal/Chords&Lyrics Ray: Rythym Guitar/Lead guitar/Drums We recorded this late last year. Enjoy! Mike.

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I wrote this song in 1982-ish about an old friend of mine named Jim. He was in Nam and when he got out he used to come and watch me play at Johnny's Lounge in Huntington, West Virginia. He'd sit and tell me storys and this song came from those conversations. It has been updated to include the latest war in Iraq.
I thought about renaming it: The Family Tree
Peace, Mike.

He was born in West Virginia
he was drafted in the war
barely eighteen years old Jimmie said what the hell am I fightin' for,
he said my three trours of duty in Viet Nam are behind me now and who gives a damn, 'bout Viet Nam...

Now he spends his days in heaven and his nights in Tennessee,
and you can tell by the way that he walks and talks there ain't nowhere that he'd rather be,
he says I love the life I'm livin' now it's a whole lot better than down in the south,
he says I love the life I'm livin' now it's a whole lot better than down in the south, of Viet Nam...

He was born in West Virginia with a smile on Jimmie's face,
he said I don't know nothin' about the jungle dad it was a different time, a different place,
he said I'm sittin' in the desert in north Iraq people shootin' at me and I'm shootin' back,
he said I'm sittin' in the desert in north Iraq there's people shootin' at me and I'm shootin' back... that's just the way it goes...

He was born in West Virginia, January 2005,
he's the great-grandson of a warrior, keepin' the name alive,
he'll grow up fightin' for his right to be free he's got the blood in veins and the family tree,
he'll be fightin' for your right to be free may it never die may it never cease...

God Bless America