Steven A. Jent

  Composer and Songwriter

 

 

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The Mighty Eighth

Dear Mother, It looks like the world is on fire,

And it doesn’t seem right to sit by.

That’s why I’ve enlisted to join in the fight

With the heroes who take to the sky.

You know that nothing would do for me

But to serve with the finest, of course.

So now I belong to a brave bomber crew

In the mighty Eighth Air Force.

 

Dear Mother, There’s nothing to worry about.

We fly the great B-17.

I couldn’t be anywhere safer than this,

Aboard such a rugged machine.

With all of the guns that she mounts nose to tail,

They call her the fort of the air.

We know that she’ll always bring us back home,

So you never need to be scared.

 

Dear Mother, We flew our first mission today.

We couldn’t believe all the flak.

And when that was over things only got worse

With the Messerschmitts on the attack.

Our planes were going down left and right,

And the lead ship was starting to burn.

We landed with just a few holes in our wings,

But a lot of my friends won’t return.

 

Dear Mother, Our crew lost a man today.

It felt like a horrible dream.

I heard a crash like the end of the world,

And then an unearthly scream.

I looked around and the waist-gunner’s limbs

Were scattered all over the floor.

Never let anyone tell you the lie

That there’s any glory in war.

 

Dear Mother, With only five missions to go,

I hope I’ll soon see you again.

It’s hard to say what my chances may be:

They keep sending us back to Berlin.

We just do our jobs the best that we can.

God knows that we’ve all had our fill.

I pray that I never make a mistake

That gets one of my buddies killed.

 

Dear Madam, I’m one of your boy’s good friends,

And I have some sad news for you.

Today, over Dresden, his aircraft went down

With him and the rest of her crew.

We watched and we hoped that they might bail out,

But not even one chute could we see.

I promised to write if his number came up,

And he’d do as much for me.

 

 



All words and music copyright © 1975–2020 Steven A. Jent