Tom Flannery - The Indianapolis lyrics

Who on earth knows why Some men live and some men die He was a better man than I Or would have been...we were boys We were nearly twelve hundred souls Watching how war takes it's toll It hates to watch the young grow old It seeks and destroys To Tinian we were bound To deliver the end from above the ground Never knew a thing never heard a sound Get her there on time Then we pushed for more And torpedoes from the ocean floor Cut us in two with a mighty roar In war nothing's a crime Captain said "boys we gotta go" 900 jumped into the water below Those that could not see still could hear When the Indy disappeared We thought they'd come when the sun it rose But the sharks they gathered and the world it froze 10 footers from the tail to the nose Well this was not war Some boys thrashed and some lay prone Some were bit in half some left alone All we had to give was flesh and bone Tell me what are you fighting for? For 4 days we died Some floated away when the night flew by Others with madness in their eye I can still hear the sounds Calls for loved ones in the air And whoops for things that just weren't there The chattering teeth and the Lord's prayer With the devil all around That PV-1 finally came Called the PBY and the ships the same You learn about luck in war 'cause we weren't what they were looking for 317 survived So there's that many men asking why How do I live when I've watched men die? Where did they all go? You may seek to blame State your case...make your claim Stick your goddamn bra** up in a frame Because you'll never know Now I'm an old man Still never got further than the sand Dreams can bring me back and force my hand Like it was yesterday Put a seashell to my ear Grandson says "pappa what do you hear?" I'll turn so he can't see the tear Someone tell me what to say Captain said "boys we gotta go" 900 jumped into the water below 317 survived So there's that many men asking why Who on earth knows why Some men live and some men die He was a better man than I Or would have been...we were boys