Nineteen
The number on his back wore the captain of the high school football team

Took us all the way to state
Got a scholarship to play down in Tennessee

He could catch he could throw he could run he could go like you've never seen

Nineteen
But on the day those twin towers came down his whole world turned around
He told them all I can't play ball there's a war on now
He marched right in with a few good men and joined the marines

At nineteen

[chorus]
He's a boy next door
He might of carried your bags at the grocery store
Now he's somebody's son in a hole with a gun in a foreign land
Trying to hold on to his American dream

At nineteen

There's a sniper out there in the dark somewhere and a soldier is down
Need someone who can duck and run and get him out somehow
What one good man will raise his hand and take one for the team
How bout you nineteen?

[chorus]
He's a boy next door
He might of carried your bags at the grocery store
Now he's somebody's son in a hole with a gun in a foreign land
Trying to hold on to his American dream

Nineteen
Nineteen

Brought him home today with a big parade down on main street
Gotta Purple Heart and a Silver Star solder gave a speech
Said he could catch he could throw he could run he's the one that rescued me

...could have played for Tennessee
He was nineteen
He was only nineteen