Freedom Isn't Free
Chaplain Steve Janke
    483rd SPS, Cam Ranh Bay,
    K-9, 70-71

They say I'm short and homeward bound.
Then why is there no happiness found?
One long year here will soon be ore�
And I'll walk to that Freedom Bird door.
But I can�t relax--no letting down�why?
Because to let down may mean to die.
It's like a dream, can it really be?
 everyone cheers as we fly bye.

But thinking of friends below just makes me sigh.
God be with you, I know your fears�
I didn't know but the next time I see you
will be over twenty years.

The plane gets me home and I kiss the ground.
The family I left is the same one I found.
We embrace and hug and cannot separate
The difference between life and death is only fate.

When I was there I dreamed of home�
Now I am here but how my mind does roam.

When I was young I was taught in school�
That freedom was not free and the golden rule.

I know them both but one came hard.
To learn it I had to leave my own back yard.