Homeless Man

(Wayne Taylor/Forty WAT Music, BMI)
They called him Skeet, his name was Bill
Corporal William Howard Campbell
They never knew and never will
He did his time with the 101
They took a simple country boy
And taught him how to use a gun
After four long years in service
Two tours in Vietnam
The country that he served so well
Doesn't seem to give a damn
That he's a homeless man
He has a son, lives in L.A
He hasn't spoke to him in twenty years
He just don't know what to say
He had a loving wife, she was his right hand
Till the nightmares and the memories
Became more that she could stand
Now he has everything he owns
In a worn-out shopping cart
He's never begged for anything
He just doesn't have the heart
He's just a homeless man
Now in this land of plenty
Where so many have it all
He sleeps in an alley half a block from city hall
They found him there one cold November night
Though he'd won so many battles
This time he'd lost the fight
No one seemed to care that he was gone
They laid him in a pauper's grave
With a tiny little stone
As a young man and his mother
Sat alone and cried
Holding the Silver Star medallion
Someone found there by his side
He was a homeless man
He was just a homeless man