This iconic song sums it up pretty well. As you know it was banned from the Smothers Brothers TV show. It's about the Vietnam War as an allegory. The big fool was undoubtably LBJ. The reference to "Nervous Nellie" was used in those times as pejorative to those who opposed war by I think Spiro Agnew, (I could be wrong about this). Pete, himself, served in the army in Special Services as a performer in WWII. He captures the futility that has come to identify the US in any of the wars that it waged. There's a subtle reference to the enlisted man as coming from a lower economic status then that of his so-called superiors.

"The general got the Croix de Guerre
The sonava bitch was never there...hinky dinky par le vous"

I personally never criticized anyone who served because every man has a right to follow his conscience in a democracy whether I agree with him or not.

Many enlisted came from ghettos, underserved communities and found comradeship and escape from miserable living conditions. As we see today, things will get worse economically
and more unsuspecting men will become pawns in other wars except that a war with Russia may be the last war mankind ever faces.

"I'd sing out danger, I'd sing out a warning"

Waist Deep In the Big Muddy. (Vietnam War, the big muddy)
It was back in nineteen forty-two
I was a member of a good platoon
We were on maneuvers in-a Loozianna
One night by the light of the moon
The captain told us to ford a river
That's how it all begun
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy
But the big fool said to push on


The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push onut


The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure
This is the best way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, go on! I forded this river
'Bout a mile above this place
It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging
We'll soon be on dry ground."
And the big fool said to push on


The Sergeant said, "Sir, with all this equipment
No man will be able to swim."
"Sergeant, don't be a Nervous Nellie,"
The Captain said to him
"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on

All at once, the moon clouded over
We heard a gurgling cry
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by
The Sergeant said, "Turn around men!
I'm in charge from now on."
And we just made it out of the Big Muddy
With the captain dead and gone

We stripped and dived and found his body
Stuck in the old quicksand
I guess he didn't know that the water was deeper
Than the place he'd once before been
Another stream had joined the Big Muddy
'Bout a half mile from where we'd gone

We were lucky to escape from the Big Muddy
When the big fool said to push on
Well, I'm not going to point any moral;
I'll leave that for yourself
Maybe you're still walking, you're still talking
You'd like to keep your health
But every time I read the papers
That old feeling comes on;
We're -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool says to push on