Sir, My Men Refuse To Go
1969 · Date 1654 · USA
- Artist
- Don Meehan
- Title
- Sir, My Men Refuse To Go
- Release
- Sir, My Men Refuse to Go / That's the Reason Why
- Year
- 1969
- Label
- Date # 1654
- Format
- 7" · Single
- Language
- English
- Country
- USA
- Songwriter
- D. Meehan, W. Gold
- Genre
- Narration · Narration
- Primary theme
- Home Front Perspective / Soldier's Perspective
Annotation
The song "Sir, My Men Refuse to Go" (Date # 1654) by Don Meehan, a spoken word track about a US military unit, the A Company, refusing to fight because of exhaustion and due to some of the troops only having a few weeks left in Vietnam, and thus not wanting to risk their lives. Meehan co-wrote and produced the song with Wally Gold. Date based in New York.
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: 'I'm sorry sir, my men refuse to go' / 'What's that again Lieutenant?' / The Colonel yelled over the field telephone connecting battalion headquarters with A Company / The battle weary men of A Company were under orders to move one more time down the mountain under heavy fire... / For almost a week they obeyed their orders and tried to move down the mountain... / Only to be slaughtered one by one... / By this time those left in A Company were in a state of total exhaustion... / 'Do those men realise the consequences of disobeying an order'?, the Colonel said / It's no use...some of them only have a few weeks left in Vietnam and they want to get out in one piece
Notes
Date 2-1654 (JZSP 152027), 45 RPM, white "Radio Station Copy" label with green print and blue "A"; "Sir, My Men Refuse to Go" (D. Meehan – W. Gold), 3:07, publisher Lem Music (ASCAP); arranged by Don Meehan, produced by Don Meehan & Wally Gold. Issued in a green Date company sleeve: "Manufactured by Date Records/CBS, Inc./51 W. 52 Street, New York, N.Y." [From the record sleeve and labels]
About the artist
Donald E. Meehan (born 16 June 1931, Beaumont, Texas; died 14 May 2026) was an American recording engineer who spent his career on the CBS/Columbia staff in New York from 1963 to 1996 and received more than thirty-five RIAA gold and platinum awards. 'Sir, My Men Refuse To Go' was issued on Date 2-1654 in 1969, co-produced with Wally Gold. He had returned to Beaumont by 2018. [Source: Discogs; Billboard; Beaumont Enterprise obituary]