Unbroken

I was born to be of service Camp Lejeune just felt like home I had honor, I found purpose Sir, yes, sir, that's what I know They sent us to a place I'd never heard of weeks before When you're 19 it ain't hard to sleep In the desert on God's floor Close your eyes, stop counting sheep You ain't in boot camp anymore We were taught to shoot our rifles Men and women side by side Thought we'd be met as liberators In a thousand-year-old fight I got this painful ringing in my ear From an IED last night But no lead-lined Humvee war machine Could save my sergeant's life Three more soldiers, six civilians Need these words to come out right God of mercy, God of light Save your children from this life Hear these words, this humble plea For I have seen the suffering And with this prayer I'm hoping That we can be unbroken It's eighteen months now I've been stateside With this medal on my chest But there are things I can't remember And there are things I won't forget I lie awake at night With dreams the devil shouldn't see I want to scream but I can't breathe And, Christ, I'm sweating through these sheets Where's my brothers? Where's my country? Where's my how-things-used-to-be God of mercy, God of light Save your children from this life Hear these words, this humble plea For I have seen the suffering And with this prayer I'm hoping That we can be unbroken My service dog's done more for me Than the medication would There ain't no angel that's coming to save me But even if they could Today twenty-two will die from suicide Just like yesterday, they're gone I live my life for each tomorrow So their memories will live on Once we were boys and we were strangers Now we're brothers and we're men Someday you'll ask me "Was it worth it To be of service in the end?" Well, the blessing and the curse is Yeah, I'd do it all again