Sometimes the best way to thank a veteran is to write a song together… then sing that song. Listen to Rebeca Folsom sing the new song “Thousand Yard Stare” to Bob Lecy.
Bob served as a medic in the Vietnam War. Here at the Warrior StoryField he is known as the “Heart Man” because he created the heart of the Dragon.
As you listen, you can follow along with the lyrics:
The Thousand Yard Stare
A young man sneaking up on the age of 21
Shellshocked, they’re breaking me in the ways of war
Learning quickly day in and day out
The blood of children on my hands, insanity’s shout
If I get out of here I’ll never be the same
Anything soft you turn to stone
Every day dreaming of getting back home
Marching in with a hope and a prayer
Coming out with a metal heart and a thousand yard stare
They shipped us home, purple ribbon on our breast
But the battle didn’t stop here, no rest
Friends gather together but it’s hard to hear
With the killing fields in the background always yelling in my ear
I tried not to hide and look natural at the party
But I left thinking it best, it’s hard to connect
With frozen eyes and a barbed wire chest
Marching in with a hope and a prayer
Coming out with a metal heart and a thousand yard stare
Walking wounded, took me years to reveal
My pain to other veterans and theirs to me
Tears fall like ashes, rage burning hot
Gonna tell my truth now, gonna fire this warning shot
So many lives traumatized and for what
Every word of mine, dynamite in service to heal
Gonna blow my story open so that I can feel
Freedom ——— Freedom ———
To be free I want everyone to see the real cost of war
Feel the agony, face the insanity of what we’re fighting for
Can we fight just as hard to mend our soldier’s scars and then
Make this war inside finally end
Free ——— Free ——— Freedom
Freedom, Freedom, Freedom, Freedom, Freedom, Freedom
Can I love, can I risk again, can I lay my own heart bare
Can I open, can I heal, can I ceasefire with this thousand yard stare
Marching in with a hope and a prayer
Music by Rebecca Folsom • Lyrics by Rebecca Folsom and Bob Lecy