BIG & RICHBY: BIG SKY

8th Of November

Lyrics

Said goodbye to his mammaAs he left South Dakota To fight for the Red, White, and Blue. He was nineteen and green with a new M-16Just doing what he had to do.

He was dropped in the jungle Where the choppers would rumbleWith the smell of napalm in the air.And the sergeant said, "Look up ahead“

Like a dark, evil cloud 1,200 came downon him and 29 more.They fought for their livesBut most of them diedIn the 173rd Airborne

Lyrics Continued(Chorus)On the 8th of November,The angels were cryingAs they carried his brothers away.With the fire raining downAnd the Hell all aroundThere were few men left standing that day.Saw the eagle fly,Through a clear, blue sky1965, the 8th of November .

Now he's fifty-eightAnd his ponytail's greyBut the battle still plays in his head.He limps when he walks,But he's strong when he talksAbout the shrapnel they left in his leg.

Lyrics Continued

He puts on a grey suitOver his Airborne tattooAnd He ties it on one time a yearAnd remembers the fallen,As he orders a tall oneAnd swallows it down with his tears.

(Chorus)On the 8th of November,The angels were cryingAs they carried his brothers away.With the fire raining downAnd the Hell all aroundThere were few men left standing that day.Saw the eagle fly,Through a clear, blue sky1965, the 8th of November.

Lyrics Continued 

Saw the eagle fly,Through a clear, blue sky1965.

(Chorus)On the 8th of November,The angels were cryingAs they carried his brothers away.With the fire raining downAnd the Hell all aroundThere were few men left standing that day.

Lyrics…

(Chorus)On the 8th of November,The angels were cryingAs they carried his brothers away.With the fire raining downAnd the Hell all around,There were few men left standing that day.Saw the eagle fly,Through a clear, blue sky1965, the 8th of November.

The 8th of NovemberThe 8th of November

He said goodbye to his mammaAs he left South DakotaTo fight for the Red, White, and Blue.He was nineteen and green with a new M-16Just doing what he had to do.

Citations

Valentin, Marissa "Angels In Religion." Angels In Religion. 29 Jan. 2008 EzineArticles.com. 2 Jun. 2010 <http://ezinearticles.com/?Angels- In- Religion&id=956326>. 173rd Airborne Brigade. N.d. 173rd Airborne. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 June 2010. <http://www.173airborne.army.mil/ home.htm>.

“173rd Airborne Brigade.” 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2010. <http://www.173abnbde.setaf.army.mil/ history.htm>.

“American Bald Eagle Information.” Bald Eagle Info. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2010. <http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/>.

American Flag. N.d. USA Flag Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 June 2010. <http://www.usa-flag-site.org/>.

Big and Rich. N.d. Big And Rich. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2010. <http://www.bigandrich.com/ my_gallery/ artist>.

Big Sky. 2009. Personal photograph by author. Bittrich, Lowell D. “Operation Hump.” Ibiblio. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2010.

<http://www.ibiblio.org/ 173abn/ OperationHump.php>. Douglas Aircraft Co. Plane Used During Operation Hump. N.d. C141 Heaven. N.p., n.d. Web. 2

June 2010. <http://www.c141heaven.us/ matsbook/ mats_chapter_01.html>. HighBeam Research, LCC. “South Dakota: History, Geography, Population and State Facts.”

Infoplease. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2010. <http://www.infoplease.com/ ipa/ A0108270.html>. Kenny, Big, and John Rich. “The Big and Rich Story.” Big and Rich. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 May

2010. <http://www.bigandrich.com/ bio>.

Citations

Kieffer, Gary I. Plane Letting Off Many Troops into the Air. N.d. Visual Intel. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 June 2010. <http://www.visualintel.net/ Army/ Units/ 173rd-Airborne/ 9754728_mrRKB/ 1/ 660819289_6ayhc#660816577_tkZPu>.

Microsoft Office. Angel. N.d. Jpeg file. Mount Rushmore National Monument. N.d. Planetware. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2010.

<http://www.planetware.com/ picture/ keystone-mount-rushmore-national-monument-us-sdmr2.htm>. Rich, John, et al. “Big & Rich, 8th Of November Lyrics.” cowboylyrics.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May

2010. <http://www.cowboylyrics.com/ lyrics/ big-&-rich/ 8th-of-november-16645.html>. Ruffell, WL. “Shrapnel.” Schrapnel. N.p., 2001. Web. 1 June 2010. <http://www.riv.co.nz/ rnza/ hist/

shrap/ index.htm>. Rutledge, Hope. American Bald Eagle. N.d. Bald Eagle Info. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 June 2010.

<http://www.baldeagleinfo.com/>. Sandro. Truckin’ Across the USA. 2001. Pocantico Hills. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 June 2010.

<http://www.pocanticohills.org/ usa02/ usa02.htm>. Shrapnel. N.d. Army History. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 June 2010. <http://www.history.army.mil/ faq/

shrapnel.htm>. “Vietnam War Facts.” Vietnam War Info. N.p., 2009. Web. 1 June 2010. <http://www.vietnam-war.info/

facts/>. Vietnam War Picture: A Machine Gunner and a Rifleman Firing at the Enemy. 1967. National Archives

and Records Administration. Volsky, Igor. “Is Iraq another Vietnam?” Editorial. Writings by the Hudson. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 June 2010.

<http://politicaligor.wordpress.com/ 2007/ 03/ 25/ is-iraq-like-vietnam/>.

Big & Rich

Big Kenny and John Rich created Big & Rich in 1998. Big Kenny and John Rich were just laid off from their own bands, and were trying to make a living by promoting different songs. Big Kenny was getting many female fans, and one of them was John Rich’s broad. She convinced him to see Big Kenny, which he agreed to. He saw him and liked what he saw. They decided to get together and work on a few songs since their views were so different. They started doing shows on Tuesday nights, for one main reason; if people wanted to listen to their music only they would come to the shows rather than drink and party with friends. They kept making songs together and now are big shots together.

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Big Sky

Big Sky was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He lived there until he turned 1 and then moved to Atlanta, Georgia. There he played baseball and football. Then, in 2006 he moved to Virginia where he attended Short Pump and Deep Run. He continued to play baseball and football. His newest project is working on literary devices and historical figures in the 8th of November song.

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South Dakota

South Dakota became a state in 1889. It was part of the sale of the Louisiana Purchase. The state song is “Hail, South Dakota.” 775,933 people live in South Dakota.

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Red, White, And Blue- Symbol Colors in the USA Flag

The white in the flag, represents purity and innocence.

The Blue in the Flag, represents justice, perseverance, and vigilance.

The Red in the Flag, represents valor and hardiness.

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Dropped in the Jungle- Symbol Of Vietnam

In the Vietnam War, 58,148 American Men were killed. 304,000 were wounded also.

91 percent of the Vietnam veterans were happy that they served.

Two Thirds of the people that served in Vietnam were volunteers.

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Like a Dark Evil Cloud, 1200 Came Down, Simile

In this line, it is a simile between a cloud, and many people blocking the sun. This showed that while the soldiers were in Vietnam, many Vietnamese troops were let off of helicopters onto the American troops. It was a very bloody battle.

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173rd Airborne

The 173rd Airborne was put together in 1917. It was deployed into France during World War I. The group was on and off during the next few years and wasn’t established for full time until World War II. After that, they got disbanded again until Okinawa and Vietnam. They were the first ground unit dropped in Vietnam.

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Eagle- National Bird of America

The Bald Eagle is the only bird species only found in America. The bald eagle does not mean that the bird has nothing on its head, back in the old days bald meant white hair. I thought that was very interesting. Also, the bald eagle was an endangered species from 1967 to 2007.

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8th of November 1965

On the 8th of November, the United States attempted to do Operation Hump. This operation was not a full success, because they were ambushed when they were trying to move in. Only 48 died, but many were wounded. They ended up killing over 300 Vietnam soldiers on that one day.

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Shrapnel

A shrapnel is a spherical object filled with musket balls. It was made to be shot above enemy troops and explode, causing a shotgun effect. This man killing weapon was made in 1784 by Lieutenant Shrapnel. However, the more important people in the army took no notice of it. In 1803 it was finally approved for use in the army.

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Angels

An angel is a minister of God, in the religion of Christianity. They are also used in Judaism and Islam. Recently, studies have shown that more people in the United States are believing in Angels. In the 4th century angels were shown with wings, to help explain how they travel from Earth to Heaven.

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The Hell

This is a symbol of the madness that was going on during the battle. The chaos was unbelievable. Many of the troops did not know what was going on. The Vietnam were coming from all different directions to corner the Americans.

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Eagle- Symbol of USA

The United States became a country on July 4, 1776.

The capital is Washington D.C. The Star Spangled Banner is the national

song. Also, the population is just over 298 million

people.

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