“American Tigers” by Guy Gruters, 1990

My wife’s name was Sandy,
Daughters Dawn and Sheryl Lee,
I flew a fighter called the F-100,
The Sabre, the Hun, the Dollar, the Century.

The F-100 was an outstanding bird,
An excellent weapon I know,
As Sandy and I kissed tenderly,
It was time to go.

Sandy was a warrior’s woman,
No man could ask for more,
Calm courage on her beautiful face,
I left for Vietnam’s shore.

I went to fight where night is day,
All energy on the attack,
I went to fight to keep the fight away,
From Sandy at my back.

AMERICAN Tigers beside me,
In the air, on land, at sea,
We fought as our countrymen always have,
For a people to be free.

I volunteered for “MISTY,”
Low-level, top-secret scouts,
Never before or since in my life,
Have I respected men more.

The Colonels had been to Germany,
Each time as an unwelcome guest,
They said nothing there was even close,
The gunners in the North were best.

With four hundred missions flown,
Tracers flowing free,
I was shot down, then rescued,
Jolly Greens pulled me from the sea.

Combat Search and Rescue,
Bravest men we’ve ever known,
No one can hold a candle to,
Angels under fire for their own.

I fought on half a world from home,
All energy on the attack,
And every day in a thousand ways,
God and Sandy covered my back.

AMERICAN Tigers beside me,
In the air, on land, at sea,
We fought as our countrymen always have,
For a people to be free.

Determined men at the big guns,
Thousands of red tracers flow by,
Down, steep diving, we hold fire,
Then our cannons speak, and those men die.

AMERICAN Tigers beside me,
In the air, on land, at sea,
We fought as our countrymen always have,
For a people to be free.

Again hit bad, in trouble,
All hydraulics blown away,
The Fighter rolled without control,
And plunged to earth that day.

I pulled the handles, the canopy went,
The rocket blew me clear,
I hit the ground in ’67,
I’ll never forget that year.

AMERICAN Tigers around me,
In the terrible prison hell,
We fought on in a different way,
Our weapons Faith and Will.

SIJAN died beside me,
The toughest man I’ve ever known,
The manner of his death a testament,
To the product of American homes.

AMERICAN Tigers around me,
In the terrible prison hell,
We fought on in a different way,
Our weapons Faith and Will.

In the camp called the Hanoi Hilton,
We heard the great Tet boast,
By the end of the year though, very clear,
Tet was a communist roast.

AMERICAN Tigers around me,
In the terrible prison hell,
We fought on in a different way,
Our weapons Faith and Will.

My brother Terry followed me then,
Flying O-1s and B-52s,
And he didn’t stop flying and fighting,
For a day the whole war through.

An AMERICAN Tiger is airborne,
Twelve thousand miles from home,
And he will not leave till the job is done,
He knows Sandy is alone.

Sandy pleaded, Terry!
What will your parents do,
If you are killed or captured,
It’s not just one, but two?

Forget it Sandy, Terry said,
The war is now for me,
Until I’m dead or Guy comes home,
Vietnam is where I’ll be.

Year after year Terry fought on,
No commander could send him back,
Downed three times, he never flinched,
But held to the attack.

An American Tiger is airborne,
Twelve thousand miles from home,
And he wouldn’t quit till the job was done,
His brother didn’t come home.

The camps were cold, I was a man alone,
Hunger, torture the way of life,
I held on through the long, long years,
For God, honor and my dear wife.

AMERICAN Tigers around me,
In the terrible prison hell,
We fought on in a different way,
Our weapons Faith and Will.

Faith in AMERICAN Tigers,
Faith in our God above,
Faith in the nation behind us,
Faith in the women we loved.

Will to keep on fighting,
Will steady through the years,
Will to bring us courage,
Will to conquer fear.

I saw their officers close up,
Not a pretty sight to see,
But no match, believe me,
For fighting men born free.

In ’72, the guerrilla war lost,
Hanoi tried a conventional attack,
But they hadn’t figured, even considered,
Nixon sending the Tigers back.

Russian tanks roll southward,
Tigers take to the air,
The tanks are smashed, Hanoi’s hopes dashed,
Tigers kept it fair.

Then Nixon sent my brother
And his friends in the B-52s,
To bomb Hanoi and Haiphong,
In Christmas of ’72.

AMERICAN Tigers were airborne,
Masters of the sky,
Men who always fight to win,
Men not afraid to die.

AMERICAN Tigers in combat,
A beautiful sight to behold,
Fighting for God and Country,
May we always have men so bold.

Lonely lovers stand behind them,
With cherished homes and families,
May we always have such women,
May we always keep them free.

Hanoi sued for peace then,
Tigers had made them yield.
With the treaty signed, we believed their lies,
Took our Tigers from the field.

I came back after six years gone,
A man no longer alone,
There waiting quietly with Dawn and Sheryl,
Stood Sandy in our home.

AMERICAN Tigress to greet me,
With heart so brave and true,
She fought on through the tragic years,
For God, honor and her man too.

Hanoi and the Russians waited two years,
Attacked in wave after wave,
Our leadership had lost the Will to defend,
South Vietnam became their slave.

AMERICAN Tigers were home then,
And broken-hearted watched them yield,
No way to defend the helpless,
Without Tigers in the field.

Now why would anyone have doubts,
Of the nature of the communist beast?
Atheist and cruel, let’s stop it,
Or one day on our people they’ll feast.

For God must be disappointed with quitters and cowards,
As all good people are.
May we strive for what’s right, not easy,
And in future, with God, win our wars.

Then Sandy gave me Ginger,
Ryan, Amber and Tyler too,
And our little baby, Misty,
Dearest Sandy, I love you.

AMERICAN lover to greet me,
At the close of a long, hard day,
Through all the fears, through all the years,
How blessed we are today.

First grandchild on the way now,
(And twenty more now in 2022!)
May I say how you’ve lived, Sandy?
You gave and gave to others, not you.

I thank God for all AMERICAN men,
And all AMERICAN women too,
But most of all, sweet Sandy,
I thank God for you.