Many thousand miles away in that land across the sea There are soldier boys their precious lives they give So their loved ones here back home many miles across the foam Might have liberty each passing day to live
[chorus] May they sleep forevermore Where a white cross stands to mark the soldier's grave May their spirits be at rest They have done their part with hearts so true and brave
May the ones who have gone on be remembered here back home In the hearts of those whom they will see no more They will wait until that day when they hear the trumpet play Then they'll march again upon that golden shore
[chorus] May they sleep forevermore Where a white cross stands to mark the soldier's grave May their spirits be at rest They have done their part with hearts so true and brave
[chorus] May they sleep forevermore Where a white cross stands to mark the soldier's grave May their spirits be at rest They have done their part with hearts so true and brave
Analysis
To be honest, the entire song catches my attention. I think that without every line there you wouldn't get the true feeling the artist was trying to express. I believe the song is pro-war because it is accepting that American soldiers are dead. If you did not know a white cross symbolizes one American soldier who has died serving in a war. So for every soldier dead there is a white cross as a tribute to their service. So the entire song is about the death of our soldiers and how they will go to 'heaven'. I think this song is in support of the doctrine because it says “they have done their part with hearts so true and brave” which I interpreted as meaning they have done their part in preventing the spread of communism to weaker countries. This song answer the driving question of individual cost and can war be beneficial since the death of soldiers is the cost to the individual and the stopping the spread of communism can be seen as beneficial. I can not say I agree with this song (in the way I have interpreted it) because I believe that there is no glory in dieing in war. I believe there is pain and sadness.