Ten Favorite Soldier Songs: I Wonder If They Ever Think of Me (#4)

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Thanks to an idea sprung on me by @TRBRocks420 listing his favorite patriotic/American songs, I'm counting down my favorite songs that deal with soldiers in one capacity or another. As I mentioned earlier, eight of the ten are Vietnam War songs, and this one is no exception. Here's today's entry. #4: I Wonder If They Ever Think of Me - Merle Haggard It starts off like so many of Merle Haggard's other songs: mentioning prison. As most of you know, Haggard was incarcerated in San Quentin early in his life for escape and attempted armed robbery. He was put on the "straight and narrow" after Johnny Cash did a concert at the prison (no, not the one featured on Cash's famous live album). He turned his life around to the point where Ronald Reagan, who was then governor of California, issued a full pardon to Haggard after the successes in country music came rolling in. (That pardon is on display at the Hall of Fame.) Haggard was known as "the poet of the common man," and he sang about the harsh realities of life....including his days as a criminal. But this song, despite the history and the opening line, "there's not much a man can do inside a prison," has nothing to do with that. Instead, Haggard took a different approach, writing from the perspective of a prisoner of war. He doesn't let you know that until the bridge, either: "I wonder if they know that I'm still living and still proud to be a part of Uncle Sam. I wonder if they think I died of hunger in this rotten prison camp in Vietnam." This song will send chills down your spine. I Wonder If They Ever Think of Me Written by Merle Haggard Recorded by Merle Haggard Released as a single, 1972 Not a day goes by that I don't think of mama: