Too Many Return In Boxes

So many young men go off to war smiling, spirits high Too many return in boxes, folks asking 'Why?' The leaders who sent them off speak of heroism and sacrifice Easy for them, these fancy words, when others risk their life We say that freedom isn't free, that blood is the price of liberty But is any country really worth a soldier's life, the ultimate fee? An Israeli general was asked this question and it stopped him cold For a long minute... when he answered, in a voice quavering and bold That in Kishinev 50 Jews were slaughtered in a pogrom back in 1903 And the whole world, outraged, cried out against that violent insanity Yet just 40 years later, in Hitler's crematoria, Jewish blood seemed cheaper As the general hugged me tight, I understood what he could weep for