I, the Hero

Welcome home, soldier

Thank you for your service
They hail me as a liberator, a savior of our people
A witness to the horrors of war, now I live to tell the tale
I the hero am a champion
I the hero am a survivor
...
I the hero am a prisoner
I remember it as if it happened yesterday
It was for glory and honor, we shouted
Enter the battlefield as seekers
Come home as heroes
One, two, three, four
Five shot dead
It was for glory and honor, we all said
One clung to life,
Slipping away from him like sand
Perhaps he was a father, perhaps he was a lover
It matters no longer
One, two, three, four Five homes demolished
For the glory and honor that we all cherished
Bodies, bodies everywhere
The town was painted in a different shade of red
Perhaps these lives were innocent, perhaps they weren't
It matters no longer
One, two, three, four Five of my comrades lay lifeless
For glory and honor, somehow we still profess
Under my command they died like misled sheep
Semper fi - this promise I failed to keep
We once vowed to protect each other - flesh, blood, and bone

It matters no longer
This soldier, this hero, makes his way home alone
For glory and honor, I once believed
Fought once as a seeker,
I come home a prisoner
Trapped in a cage of self-condemnation
...
I come home a prisoner
I the hero am a killer
I the hero am a monster
Welcome home, soldier
Thank you for your service