Credited on the record as Harold Putnam and The Country Playboys.
The Outcome of Vietnam
Strato-Sound SS-104 · Columbia, Tennessee
- Artist
- Harold Putnam
- Credited on the record as
- Harold Putnam and The Country Playboys
- Title
- The Outcome of Vietnam
- Release
- The Outcome of Vietnam / No Sympathy
- Label
- Strato-Sound # SS-104
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- Columbia, Tennessee, USA
- Genre
- Country · Country
- Primary theme
- US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs
Annotation
The country song "The Outcome of Vietnam" (Strato-Sound Productions # SS-104) by Harold Putnam - the record had no date on, but based on the lyrics, it probably appeared around 1973-1975: "the war has ended in Vietnam". Released in Bear Creek Park, Columbia, Tennessee. The song looked at the return of the P.O.W.s under Operation Homecoming. The narrator took the perspective of a soldier's parent. The parent expressed happiness that the "prisoners have...been set free" from the "camps over there". However, the narrator soon discovered that his child "was killed in action". While some had "reunions and laughter", others faced "heartbreak". He called on people to remember that soldier's died "for Uncle Sam to keep this country free", therefore taking a pro-government, patriotic stance.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: The war has ended in Vietnam and the prisoners have all been set free / It's something we've wanted for many years and it's a beautiful sight to see / For some there will be reunions and laughter everywhere / I know their proud to get their boys from those prisoner camps over there / But then there will come the heartbreak for those that won't return / I thought my son would be coming home, the day I finally learned that he was killed in action / Yes a knocking to our door and they told us there our son wouldn't be coming home no more / And now that it's all over...let's not forget so easily the outcome of this war / For those that will be returning we're proud of them I know / They will come home to their families but my boy won't be one of those / And that's why there will be heartbreak, and the tears drops they will flow for there's a lot of young that won't return / We know they gave their lives for Uncle Sam to keep this country free / So friends this we must remember, they died for you and me...remember
Notes
Strato-Sound Productions SS-104 A, Side A, black and silver label, Bear Creek Pk., Columbia, Tenn.; "The Outcome of Vietnam", time 3:05, BMI; credited to Harold Putnam and The Country Playboys. No writer is printed. [From the record sleeve and labels]
Themes
In collections
P.O.W. / M.I.A. Songs · US 'Patriotic' / Pro-Government / Anti-Protest Songs [War Years]