I look around me, left and right
Tanks roll in and soldiers fight
Medics heal, assaults charge in
Bullets tear through flesh and skin


My fellow squad crouch all around
Dodge those bullets, clutch the ground
But through the horror all around
My ears are drawn to a single sound


Screams of pain fly everywhere
Men dying here, men dying there
And as my friends around me die
I hear somewhere, a canine cry


As if in a dream, I run from cover
I dodge one bullet, then another
And up ahead, all shot up
Lies a poor young doggy pup

MAN DOWN, I cry, and race ahead
A man pops out, I shoot him dead
DOGGY NO! THIS ISN'T YOUR FATE!
I scream as I begin to defibrilate


STAT! I call and shock the dog
But he just lies there like a log
Again I charge, give him a shock
But the dog just sits like a rock


I hoist him up, on my shoulder
Poor doggy should have grown much older
Instead he died there in Arika Bay
On that sorry, fateful day


Amid a hail of small arms fire
I lift the doggy even higher
I run back quick, through bullets and mines
Screaming 'WE NEVER LEAVE A DOGGY BEHIND!'


I think back to that awful battle
Think of the men, slaughtered like cattle
Maybe if I'd gone, and not waited
That doggy, we could have defibrilated