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motorola V3 free gameJuly 14, 2005
Sometimes Even Good Men Go Away
As PFC Eric Woods drove through the absolute blackness of the desert in his Humvee his thoughts drifted back to another time, half a world away in Omaha Nebraska...
He slides out of the driveway,
points his headlights toward the highway
still tryin’ hard not to make that sound.
It was so hard to leave Jamie and little Eric... so hard. Would they be all right without him? Was he doing the right thing? Jamie had looked so pretty, standing there, bravely struggling to hold back the tears as she kissed him goodbye at the front door.
Got two in bed and one at the door,
pretty soon there’ll be one more.
They’re all cryin’, askin’ him to stay.
The Humvee barreled on through the night. He'd gotten a letter from her just yesterday. Little Eric was 3 now. He was changing so fast - would he even recognize his Daddy when he got home? Maybe the pictures he sent would help... and the phone calls... That's all you could do. Jamie was a good Mom - she'd help him to understand. Eric just hoped she understood why he'd had to go.
God, he missed her so.
“Oh, no, my pretty ones.
There’s a need for men and guns,
and it ain’t enough to sit and pray.
Sometimes even good men go away.”
As the driver slowed the vehicle, PFC Woods saw the bodies lying by the side of the road. He grabbed his gun and Medkit and leapt over the side of the vehicle before it had even stopped rolling.
Yeah, Daddy’s gone a soldier,
got an Eagle on his shoulder,
flag on his arm and he’s gonna make ‘em pay.
Sweeping the area with his eyes, he thought, "This is why I'm here. This is what makes it all worthwhile - helping people. I just hope some of these guys are still alive."
Back home they’re scared of fightin’
sayin’ “You don’t have to die, son”.
The kids say “Daddy, are you comin’ home today?”
The first two were beyond hope, bled out, torn bodies lying in a hopeless tangle. "Bastards", he thought. Funny how you never get used to seeing people die.
He says “Oh, no, my pretty ones.
There’s a need for men and guns,
there’s just too much at stake.
There’s some things in life you gotta face.”
It wasn't until he got to the third Guardsman, who was still breathing, and started to go to work that he saw the wires... and then everything went black.
Well there’s a letter in a locker,
when she gets it, it’ll drop her.
It’s sittin’ underneath some baby boots she made.
Just after dawn the doorbell rang in a little house in Omaha, Nebraska:
...the nightmare became real, she realized that she had grown into the role of Army spouse. Two soldiers knocked at her door in Omaha and told her the news that every military family dreads - her husband had been killed by an improvised explosive device early Saturday while trying to save another soldier near Tal Afar, Iraq.
Jamie closed the door and went inside to hold her 3 year old son.
It says “Oh, no, my pretty ones,
I guess this means my time is done.
Like gypsies who never stay,
Daddies only come to go away.”