Bruce Springsteen - Galveston Bay lyrics

For fifteen years, Le Bin Son
Fought side by side with the Americans
In the mountains and deltas of Vietnam
In '75, Saigon fell and he left his command
And brought his family to the promised land

Seabrook, Texas and the small towns
In the Gulf of Mexico
It was delta country and reminded him of home
He worked as a machinist, put his money away
And bought a shrimp boat with his cousin
And together, they harvested Galveston Bay

In the morning before the sun come up
He'd kiss his sleeping daughter
Steer out through the channel and cast
His nets into the water
Billy Sutter fought with Charlie Company in
The highlands of Quang Tri
He was wounded in the battle of Chu Lai
Shipped home in '68
There he married and worked
The gulf fishing grounds
In a boat that had been his father's
In the morning, he'd kiss his sleeping son
And cast his nets into the water

Billy sat in front of his
TV as the South fell
And the communists rolled into Saigon
He and his friends watched
As the refugees came
Settled on the same streets and worked
The coast they'd grew up on
Soon in the bars around the harbor
Was talk of America for Americans
Someone said "You want 'em out
You got to burn 'em out"
And brought in the Texas Klan

One humid Texas night
There were three shadows on the harbor
Come to burn the Vietnamese
Boats into the sea
In the fire's light, shots rang out
Two Texans lay dead on the ground
Le stood with a pistol in his hand
A jury acquitted him in self-defense
As before the judge he did stand
But as Le walked down the courthouse steps
Billy said "My friend, you're a dead man"

One late summer night
Le stood watch along the waterside
Billy stood in the shadows
His Ka-Bar knife in his hand
And the moon slipped behind the clouds
Le lit a cigarette
The bay was still as glass as he walked by
Billy stuck his knife into his pocket
Took a breath and let him pass
In the early darkness, Billy rose up
Went into the kitchen for a drink of water
Kissed his sleeping wife
Headed into the channel
And cast his nets into the
Water of Galveston Bay