A walk in the light green

Mum and Dad and Denny saw the passing-out parade at Puckapunyal
It was a long march from cadets.
The sixth battalion was the next to tour, and it was me who drew the card.
We did Canungra, Shoalwater before we left.
And Townsville lined the footpaths as we marched down to the quay
This clipping from the paper shows us young and strong and clean.
And theres me in my slouch hat with my SLR and greens.
God help me, I was only nineteen.
From Vung Tau, riding Chinooks, to the dust at Nui Dat
Id been in and out of choppers now for months.
But we made our tents a home, VB and pinups on the lockers
And an Asian orange sunset through the scrub.
And can you tell me, doctor, why I stil cant get to sleep?
And night-times just a jungle dark and a barking M16?
And whats this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only ninteen.
four week operation when each step could mean your last one on two legs
It was a war within yourself.
But you wouldnt let your mates down til they had you dusted off
So you closed your eyes and thought about something else.
Then someone yelled out Contact! and the bloke behind me swore
We hooked in there for hours, then a Godalmighty roar
Frankie kicked a mine the day that mankind kicked the moon,
God help me, he was going home in June.
I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel
On a thirty-six hour rec leave in Vung Tau
And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle
Til the morphine came and killed the bloody row.
And the Anzac legends didnt mention mud and blood and tears
And the stories that my father told me never seemed quite real.
I caught some pieces in my back that I didnt even feel
God help me, I was only nineteen.
And can you tell me, doctor, why I still cant get to sleep?
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
And whats this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only nineteen.