To all my friends at the 4077th
you know who you are
at night we drink and laugh
sometimes gaze upon the stars
I'm here in the cold trenches
off the coast of Inchon
where the days crawl by like death
and the nights are mighty long
With stitches in my one hand
and a rifle in the other
a bloody mess of bones and wretch
and someone's son or brother
I play two parts now
two roles and two lives
a doctor who longs for peace
and a soldier who has to fight
In my sleep I think of you
and my heart it aches
with a surfeit of longing
and the utmost grief and pain
If God wills and fate allows
that I make it back alivenights
and we'll once more be together
as I've wished so many
We'll all throw a party
and get drunk in the mess tent
Beej, I wouldn't trade it for the world
all the time that we've spent
And until I go home, I'll be home
in the mountains of Korea
with the only people in the world
who I so often think of
Oh, but my comrades,
my friends, my loves,
If I am to die
And be laid
down in the grave
as thousands have before I
My heart is with the 4077th
the people who set me free
and gave me the courage, the strength
and the heart and a reason to believe.
Goodnight, to you,
my family,
none of whom bound by blood
but all of whom
have a piece of me
and all of whom I love.