COMPOSER-SONGWRITER
 
Silent Tree Music - Song Lyrics 

( Vietnam War true story song lyrics:
Viet Nam Veterans Wall Memorial, Rich Luttrell ( Latrelle )
on Jane Pauley / Keith Morrison/Dateline NBC-TV Shows )
FACE TO FACE
Copyright © 2005 - MickTerry.com

On   YouTube,  performed  LIVE  by  MICK TERRY

We had been in country nearly three days.
So far, Charlie had not yet been seen.
Our uniforms dripped with rancid sweat.
Our whole world was shades of tan and green.
Out on point, I led our squad through thick vines,
when there's suddenly one man ahead.
I don't know who was the more surprised,
but one of us would soon be dead.

Seconds ticked by, dragging to forever,
with his eyes completely locked to mine.
Instead of fear, curiosity,
with his head the slightest bit inclined.
Then my training fin'lly took me over,
M-16 spit bullets through his gills.
My sergeant slapped me upon my back,
congratulating my first kill.

    FACE TO FACE, it's all right in this moment.
    FACE TO FACE, it all adds up to now.
    Just where our lives are leading from ecstasy to torment:
    FACE TO FACE.

There's a battle raging in the forest.
There's a battle raging in my head.
A man lies dead in the jungle path,
all his clothing turning into red.
From his pocket falls a damaged photo
of him holding his young daughter close.
I've seen a lot of- fam'ly shots,
but this one haunts me more than most.

    CHORUS

Twenty years pass: still I had that photo
'til I left it at the Viet Wall.
Thought maybe now I could find some peace.
Maybe that would be the end of it all.
But behind the scenes, there's something happ'ning:
items left there honored in a book.
Beyond my reach, out of my control,
I'm forced to take another look.

        Is it just coincidence that leads us through our lives?
        Is this all just happenstance or some divine- purpose?

Through a sequence I can barely fathom,
here I find myself again in 'Nam.
Bouquet in hand, I approach the home
of the girl I took her father from.
What does one say to someone that you've orphaned?
How does one ask someone to forgive?
With grace and warmth, she accepts me in:
a closure where her father lives.

    CHORUS

Copyright © 2005  MICK TERRY  Silent Tree Music  All rights reserved
[ Reprinted here by permission of the composer-lyricist ]   BMI
|   CONTACT   |

5-5-11:
1100 views for Face to Face on   YouTube.

4-7-11:
900 views for Face to Face on   YouTube.

3-27-11:
After 6 years of searching for more information about "Rich Latrelle",
Mick Terry  finally found interviews & articles about "Rich Luttrell".
MT  felt like an idiot for not having realized his mistake sooner.
A few articles later, when  MT  discovered that Rich Luttrell had died
11-6-10, he wept.  MT  & others had often been deeply moved by
Rich's experience in the content of this song & he felt a bond with Rich.
He had wanted to share the song with Rich.  No longer an option.
The lyrics to this song have been among  MT's most popular:
in emailed comments & inquiries, search engine requests
& videos on   YouTube  (surpassing 1500 views on 8-22-11).

11-6-10:
Rich Luttrell died.
http://www.dropzone.com/forum/Community_C7/Blue_Skies_-_In_Memory_Of_F48/Rich_Luttrell_P3991235/
( Unseen by MT until 3-27-11 )

5-25-08:
Dateline of Vietnam War vet Rich Luttrell by Keith Morrison (NBC-TV).
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24818399/ns/dateline_nbc-international/
( Unseen by MT until 3-27-11 )

1-28-05 & 4-13-05:
Interview of Vietnam War veteran Rich Luttrell by Jane Pauley (NBC-TV)
As described in lyrics, Rich Luttrell was deeply affected by his 1st kill:
a Viet Cong soldier, whose photo of the man & his daughter
Rich kept in his wallet for over 20 years.
Visiting the Vietnam War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC,
he wrote a sincere note of apology to the man he had killed.
He left the photo & note at the foot of the Wall,
thinking he had achieved completion.

Among the thousands of mementos left at the Wall each year,
the curator of the museum, Duery Felton, placed that photo & note in the
center of a book written about those objects, Offerings at the Wall.
Working for Veterans' Affairs, Rich received a copy of the book.
Seeing the photo again, he felt compelled to return it to the daughter.

Flying from DC, Duery Felton returned the picture to him in Illinois.
The story made front page of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
Rich sent a copy of the article to the Vietnamese ambassador.
A Hanoi newspaper printed the photo, asking who knew those people.
A Hanoi man wrapped a package sent to his mother in that newspaper.
That mother, in a rural town, took the newspaper photo to a woman
in a neighboring village:  the daughter in the picture.

The daughter, Lan, now near 40, sent a letter to Rich, who responded,
arranging for his meeting Lan in her village in Vietnam.
Not knowing what to expect, he hesitantly approached her home,
only to be greeted warmly with acceptance, honor,
forgiveness & compassion.

Inspired by Jane Pauley interview, Face to Face  written by  MT  5-1-05,
mis-hearing Jane Pauley's accent to be saying, "Rich Latrelle".

5-8-00:
Detailed account of Vietnam War veteran Rich Luttrell online.
http://www.kenkemp.com/leaderfocus/LFMAY08_00.htm
( Unseen by MT until 3-27-11 )

These lyrics used by permission in the following projects:
Reid Carroll - MD:  student project
Thomas Hall - PA:  2006 Pittsburgh Vietnam War Memorial Day show

To other pro-peace anti-war song lyrics:   C.O.
To other war song lyrics:   CAN WE TALK?
HEY, ITS NOT ME
LAND OF DREAMS
CHILDREN OF WAR
BEHIND THE LINES
THE NUKE'S A HAZARD
BIN LADEN, BIN LADEN
NIGHT OF DYING MOON
ONCE THE DARK WINGS
SADDAMI, SADDAMI, BALONEY
I WANT HIM BACK FROM IRAQ
I'M LOOKING FOR YOUNG MEN
WHY ARE THEY SHOOTING AT ME?
EXPERIMENTS COME, EXPERIMENTS GO
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