the general just gave me a medal oh i m a sight for mom to see but when the news gets round that i ain t got ole bill some kids gonna think a whole lot less of me you see she gave me that puppy and said he d protect me through the night and if i got hurt he d go for help or he d back me up in a fight he growed all the while i was trainin forget him i never will cause you d never see me with right at my heels was oklahoma bill we hit a long ridge one sunup and it seemed like death held all the cards cause we payed and payed with lives of men for every hard fought yard when finally we drove up to the top there wasn t nothin but death behind and as we all dug in we all thanked god though we numbered only nine and as the snipers switched their guns as darkness closed that hill my soul companion in the night was oklahoma bill there s no glory in a battle once you ve seen its awful cost but there s glory in the knowledge that your flag is never lost and yet in the stillness of the nightime and all alone you hold a post you start cryin like a baby sittin there with all the ghosts you feel your buddies are pattin your back though their guns re silent and still it s only a dog tryin to love you my oklahoma bill i gave my note to the colonel and i bound a shattered leg and i said bill we re sure in trouble he never whimpered or begged i could tell he hated to leave me i was the only god he ever knew but quick as a flash he took of through the night like a fightin marine would do i kept firin till help finally came it was him though that saved that hill a dyin dog had got through the lines my oklahoma bill that little ol kid will always wonder what happened to her dog but she ll find out on judgement day when she sees the big skipper s log we ll all walk in and bugles ll blow and we ll stand our last revue and men who ve died for men on earth will get their heavenly dues and if all brave hearts are there that day i ll get my greatest thrill when i hang this medal around the neck of oklahoma bill