Well come on all of you big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again,
He got himself in a terrible jam,
Way down yonder in Vietnam,
Put down your books and pick up a gun,
We're gonna have a whole lotta fun

And its 1,2,3 what are we fighting for?
Don't ask me I don't give a damn,
The next stop is Vietnam,
And its 5,6,7 open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
WHOOPEE we're all gonna die

Well come on generals let's move fast, Your big chance is come at last,
Gotta go out and get those reds,
The only good commie is one that's dead,
And you know that peace can only be won,
When you blow them all to kingdom come
And its 1,2,3 what are we fighting for?
Don't ask me I don't give a damn,
The next stop is Vietnam,
And its 5,6,7 open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
WHOOPEE we're all gonna die

Well come on wall street don't be slow,
Why man this is war go go go,
There's plenty good money to be made,
By supplying the army with the tools of the trade,
Just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb
They drop it on the Vietcong.

And its 1,2,3 what are we fighting for?
Don't ask me I don't give a damn,
The next stop is Vietnam,
And its 5,6,7 open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
WHOOPEE we're all gonna die
Well come on mothers across the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam,
Come on fathers don't hesitate,
Send your sons off before its too late,
Be the first one on your block,
To have your boy come home in a box

And its 1,2,3 what are we fighting for?
Don't ask me I don't give a damn,
The next stop is Vietnam,
And its 5,6,7 open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
WHOOPEE we're all gonna die.

          The rhyming scheme of this poem is AABBCCDD... and the poem has a darkly comedic style. The poem, though addressing a serious subject, talks about war in an almost mocking way, like with the lines, "Come on fathers don’t hesitate/Send your sons off before it’s too late/Be the first one on your block/To have your boy come home in a box." The author uses a lot of common sentiments during the 1960's sarcastically (ex. "The only good commie is one that’s dead) to show how foolish he thinks the war supporters are. Though the imagery in the poem is toned down and considerably un-graphic for a war poem, it still illustrates the pictures of death and violence in war. The author uses this imagery to support his viewpoint that war leads to pointless killing and that people should speak up in opposition to war.

     This poem addresses many issues having to do with the Vietnam War. For example, the line "Put down your books and pick up your gun" refers to the fact that many young, bright men with potential-filled futures were sent off to fight in war and many of them died. The lines "There’s plenty of good money to be made/By supplying the army with the tools of the trade," are in reference to the common accusation that a large motivation for the government to start the war was to make money. This was a common argument in the 1960's and one that many anti-war protesters used to gain support for the movement. From the poem, it is clear that the author was completely against war and not only saw the war itself as wring, but the people supporting it and signing up for it as a major part of the problem as well.