In boot camp, the army makes a big distinction between a gun and a rifle. The term gun is reserved for artillery. Anyone caught calling his rife (M-16) a gun was punished with extra laps or more details or something unpleasant. I had never heard the reference you make in the song but it sounds like something most drill sergeants would say.

There seems to be something missing in the lyrics that would make the chorus have the punch needed the last time it is used. As it is, you have a dead Vietnam vet and the chorus then becomes trivial because it is still taken the way the character meant it in the first verse. It doesn't have a pay off. The song in general seems promising but I think it needs to transform the meaning of the hook. For the record, I was in Vietnam in 1969 (588th Signal Corps 6 miles from the DMZ)
Welcome to the forum. I hope to see more of your lyrics.

[This message has been edited by nashvillecat (edited 06-30-2005).]

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein