The lyrics to the true song by country duo Big & Rich...

Rating: 10/10 (9 August 2006)

On November 8, 1965, during Operation Hump in War Zone D in South Vietnam, the 173rd Airborne Brigade were ambushed by over 1200 Viet Cong guerrillas. 48 American soldiers and over 400 of the enemy lost their lives on that fateful day.
The country duo, Big & Rich, wrote and performed a wonderful song relating to this film, which appears on their album, Comin' To Your City. The title is, "THE 8TH OF November."-- The songwriters stated, "This is a true story about a man we are honored to know. His name is Niles Harris of Deadwood, SD. He is one of just four of the thirty men from his 2nd Platoon of Charlie Company who survived when over 1200 Vietcong ambushed the 173rd Airborne Brigade. Every word of that song had to say so much. This song is one of the biggest things we've been a part of and one of the most enlightening."
The lyrics go like this:
Said goodbye to his momma as he left South Dakota to fight for the red, white and blue. He was 19 and green, with a new M-16, just doing what he had to do. He was dropped in the jungle where the choppers would rumble with the smell of napalm in the air. And the sergeant said...look up ahead, like a dark evil cloud, 1200 came down on him, and 29 more. They fought for their lives but most of them died in the 173rd Airborne.
Chorus:
On the 8th of November the angels were crying as they carried his brothers away. With the fire raining down, and the hell all around, there were few men left standing that day. Saw the eagle fly through a clear blue sky, 1965, the 8th of November.
Now he's 58, and his pony tail's gray, but the battle still plays in his head. He limps when he walks, but he's strong when he talks, about the shrapnel they left in his leg. He puts on a gray suit over his Airborne tattoo, and he ties it on one time a year. And remembers the fallen as he orders a tall one, and swallows it down with his tears.
Chorus:
Saw the eagle fly through a clear blue sky, 1965. On the 8th of November, the angels were crying as they carried his brothers away. With the fire raining down, and the hell all around, there were few men left standing that day.
Chorus:
Said goodbye to his momma as he left South Dakota to fight for the red, white and blue. He was nineteen and green with a new M-16, just doing what he had to do.