Oh Mr. War Memorial
1991 · Silver Star JRB-1240 · USA
- Artist
- John R. Black
- Title
- Oh Mr. War Memorial
- Release
- Vietnam Farewell
- Year
- 1991
- Label
- Silver Star # JRB-1240
- Format
- CD · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- John R. Black
- Genre
- Rock · Pop Rock
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
John R. Black, a Vietnam veteran, currently based in Seattle, Washington, USA, born 26 December 1940. He left for Vietnam in January 1967, his first of two tours, having volunteered to join the service. His father was also in the military, stationed in China before World War Two.1 He released several pop rock Vietnam War-related albums. This one contains two songs about the memorial wall (which also feature on the compilation Meet Me in Vietnam). The first, "The Women on the Wall", is unique in that it is the only song focused on the eight women inscribed on the wall, all nurses, who died in the Vietnam War - the song actually calls out their names: 1st Lt. Sharon Ann Lane, 2nd Lt. Pamela Dorothy Donovan, Lt. Col. Annie Ruth Graham, Capt. Mary Therese Klinker, 2nd Lt. Carol Ann Elizabeth Drazba, 2nd Lt. Elizabeth Ann Jones, Capt. Eleanor Grace Alexander, 1st Lt. Hedwig Diane Orlowski.The track "Oh Mr. War Memorial" is a fairly standard tribute to those that died in Vietnam and whose names are on the memorial.Sources1Meet Me in Vietnam: John R. Black↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Veterans Memorial Wall Songs
The track "Oh Mr. War Memorial" is a fairly standard tribute to those that died in Vietnam and whose names are on the memorial.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: There you are solid stone, names of soldiers forever burned / Forever deep inside your memory, so many there forever gone / Gave their lives so that we'd live on, names burned in solid stone / Heard...voices cry, each and everyone asking why / Love and sorrow, hard lessons to learn / Oh Mr. War Memorial / How are your boys today / Tell them we miss them, they died so far away / Oh Mr. War Memorial, you are so great and strong / Tell them all we're crying, we're so sorry they are gone / There you are solid stone, a monument stand alone / To arc against the deep grey sky, the sacrifice was supreme / They died to give..the dream, the cause of peace and liberty / The battle field say and night, fought to champion the right / Peace & freedom are lessons to learn, oh Mr. War Memorial
About the artist
US Army Vietnam veteran (two tours) and singer-songwriter; his music ranges from 1950s-60s era rock & roll to ballads inspired by his Vietnam service, collected on Vietnam Farewell (1991) and Vietnam Farewell II: I Don't Know Where the Time Has Gone (1999). Born c. 1940 (per his 2020 single I Just Turned 80). [Source: artist website meetmeinvietnam.net; Apple Music discography]
Themes
From the release Vietnam Farewell