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about

Lance Corporal Terry A. Householter
KIA Vietnam, June 23, 1969
1rst Platoon, Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines
(Note: Terry was from Concordia, Kansas. In 1967, his senior year, he set state records in the 100, 220, and 440, all in the same day. As measured in yards, versus meters, those records were never broken.)

lyrics

9) Bad Seed (for Terry Householter 1948-1969)
m.litton

His grandaddy ran a pool hall, his daddy lay run to ground
Terry could outrun any boy in any Kansas town.
They say he was a "bad seed" 'cause he smoked, drank, and cursed
But in any race he ever ran he always came in first.
He was an ace, deuce, joker wild, he'd dust you with a grin
He played it fast, died hard, left his shadow in the wind...
They say he was a bad seed...

He went down to a college town to party for a spell
A war was on, he soon was gone to try a taste of hell.
He joined up with the Marines, the boys of Semper Fi,
They sent him off to Vietnam where the game was do or die...
They say he was a bad seed...

His first day in-country they hit a hot L-Z
He soon had cause to "git some" if you know what I mean.
They hit the ground a'runnin', mortars fallin' left 'n right
They hit the dirt face down, hearts pumpin' full of life.
He yelled out to a buddy as they clawed their hands to dig,
"I never knew these fatigue buttons were so damn big!"
They say he was a bad seed...

He won the V for valor in a fight with the NVA
He raced 200 meters of fire-swept terrain
To reach three wounded buddies, yeah he outran them guns,
Then carried each to safety 'neath the hot jungle sun.
If you say he was a bad seed, go tell it to the wind,
He ran through that hellfire again and again...
They say he was a bad seed...

On R 'n R down Tu Do Street, drinking beer in ol' Saigon
He hit the bars and brothels, yeah he loved to get it on.
He'd say, "Let's do right tonight, boys, gotta try 'n taste it all,
"'Cause you never know, good buddy, when that black card may fall."
He was an ace, deuce, joker wild, he'd dust you with a grin,
He played it fast, died hard, left his shadow in the wind...
They say he was a bad seed...

Near a year of blood 'n battle, only 29 days to go
A buddy swore one morning, "I can't do no more patrol."
Terry said, "Don't sweat it, man, I'll walk this point for you."
He stepped down the jungle path and a bullet cut him through...
They say he was a bad seed, yeah they say he was a bad seed...
Well if you say he was a bad seed, go tell it to the wind
'Cause he ran through that hellfire and he died for a friend...

Like a hawk above the praire they flew his body home
They laid him up on Pleasant Hill beside his daddy's bones.
One thousand stood in witness as they put him in the ground
The only race he ever lost was to the gun that shot him down.
He was an ace, deuce, joker wild, he'd dust you with a grin
He played it fast, died hard, left his shadow in the wind...
They say he was a bad seed...
They say he was a bad seed...

Lance Corporal Terry A. Householter
KIA Vietnam, June 23, 1969
1rst Platoon, Mike Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines...

credits

from It's a Short Life, released September 13, 2011

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The Gothic Cowboy/The Border Band Lawrence, Kansas

I'm a creekbank ghetto boy. Began my singin' near half a century ago in Canada, then hit northeast, down thru Nashville, Austin, out to Colorado and back to Kansas where I started out and will likely remain. My influences are Leadbelly, Jimmie Rodgers, CCR and The Band, while the juices of a hundred others flavor my music, not to mention the devil himself if that's what it takes to make a song... ... more

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