Deny me from every angle

In a country that's sick and twisted and tangled

Praise me for the dedication and effort

Only to reward me with a broken soul,

Beaten and mangled.

I've given up my rights for you

So what don't you understand?

Only two years in and I've lost sleep,

Wrenched my guts out,

And learned how to kill for this land.

The contract reads black and bold

Don't ask, don't tell

So that when I come home

I have no one to hold

No one to appreciate the chaos I've seen

No one to distract me from the PTSD

And if my wingman only knew who sleeps in my bed

Who I write to about bloody body parts, scattered and dead.

One word,

Dyke.

Don't think it's only the right wing that's wrong

For my "friends" are disgusted by my uniform

By the camouflage and weapons I wield

By the red, white and blue in my blood, I feel

By my dedication to this young nation

Where free isn't free and

We're stuck on material fixation

How can you hide who you are?

How can you follow orders from the power hungry?

How could you kill innocent civilians?

How could you join an institution that hates you?

One word,

Murderer.

And so I march to a cadence that is my own

And I dedicate this song to those who have shown

Selflessness in hopes of gaining equality

I'll remind them to disregard the ignorant frivolity

That there is somewhere we belong

Together-fighting for the same self-evident truth.

You're not alone so show your dog tags.

Be it rainbow or crimson, pure, and blue

I'm mighty proud of my Ragged Old Flags.