D
Fifteen years Le Bing Son
G D
Fought side by side with the Americans
A D
In the mountains and deltas of Vietnam

In ’75 Saigon fell
G D
and he left his command
A D
And brought his family to the promised land

Seabrook Texas and the small towns
G D
In the Gulf of Mexico
A D
It was delta country and reminded him of home

He worked as a machinist, put his money away
G D
And bought a shrimp boat with his cousin
A D
And together they harvested Galveston Bay

A D
In the mornin’ ‘fore the sun come up
G D
He’d kiss his sleepin’ daughter
A D
Steer out through the channel
G D G D
And casts his nets into the water

Billy Sutter fought with Charlie Company
G D
In the highlands of Quang Tri
G D
He was wounded in the battle of Chu Lai
A D
And shipped home in ’68

A D
There he married and worked the gulf fishing grounds
G D
In a boat that’d been his father’s
A D
In the morning he’d kiss his sleeping son
G D G D
And cast his nets into the water

G D
Billy sat in front of his TV as the south fell
G D
And the Communists rolled into Saigon

He and his friends watched as the refugees came
A D
Settle on the same streets and worked the coast they grew up on

A D
Soon in the bars around the harbor was talk
G D
Of America for Americans
A D
Someone said, “You want ’em out, you got to burn ’em out”
G D
And brought in the Texas klan

G D
One humid Texas night there were three shadows on the harbor
A D
Come to burn the Vietnamese boats into the sea

In the fire’s light shots rang out
G D
Two Texans lay dead on the ground
A D
Le stood with a pistol in his hand

A D
A jury acquitted him in self defense
G D
As before the judge he did stand
A D
But as he walked down the courthouse steps
G D A D G D D A 2/4 D 4/4 G D
Billy said “My friend, you’re a dead man”

G D
One late summer night Le stood watch along the waterside

Billy stood in the shadows
G D
His K-bar knife in his hand
A D
And the moon slipped behind the clouds

G D
Le lit a cigarette, the bay was as still as glass

As he walked by Billy stuck his knife into his pocket
G D
Took a breath and let him pass

A D
In the early darkness Billy rose up
G D
Went into the kitchen for a drink of water
A D
Kissed his sleeping wife
G
Headed into the channel
D
And casts his nets into the water
A D
Of Galveston Bay

D A G
e|-3–0–3-|
B|-2–2–0-|
G|-3–2–0-|
D|-0–2–0-|
A|—-0–2-|
E|——-3-|