'Nam music chiseled onto your soul

Della said:
In 1967, in a bar just off campus at Ohio State, I used to hear this really sad song on the jukebox all the time.
The band had a blue grass sound. I haven't been able to find it since.

It went like this:

They sent him to Vietnam
His heart was young and gay.
It's hard for me to realize
they've sent him home this way.

His troubles are all over.
His work on earth is done.
His mother has a purple heart
in memory of her son.

It still gets to me. Anyone ever heard this?
Click to expand...
I can't locate a song. It was a poem however. no song was published
 

Della said:
In 1967, in a bar just off campus at Ohio State, I used to hear this really sad song on the jukebox all the time.
The band had a blue grass sound. I haven't been able to find it since.

It went like this:

They sent him to Vietnam
His heart was young and gay.
It's hard for me to realize
they've sent him home this way.

His troubles are all over.
His work on earth is done.
His mother has a purple heart
in memory of her son.

It still gets to me. Anyone ever heard this?
Click to expand...
I have searched and searched and I finally found a song with these lyrics.
Turns out, it was originally written by Curly Sechler in 1952 as a Korean War lament (inspired by a fan's poem sent to his radio show). It tells the story of a grieving mother whose son is killed overseas and sent home in a casket, with her receiving his Purple Heart as the sole memento.

They sent him to Korea, his heart was light and gay
It's hard for me to realize they sent him home this way
His troubles are all over, his work has been well done
A mother has a Purple Heart in memory of her son

Then, in the 60's, Red Allen (a prominent bluegrass singer with Bill Monroe's band and later his own group) recorded a version around 1966–1967 where he swapped "Korea" for "Vietnam". See if this matches. :)


 

There was so much music happening back then not only antiwar but civil rights and experimental music. Growing up in that era I have a deep appreciation for all genres of music during that age.
 
Janis Joplin never performed in Vietnam but she was a huge part of the 60s music scene.
Many of her songs were in the 2017 10-part Ken Burns documentary - The Vietnam War.

Janis Joplin - Maybe 16th March 1969​

 

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