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