Copied from the Irish on the Wall Memorial Page:

ROSE OF SAIGON

When Danny left home in West Kerry,
His Dad shook his fist at the train.
His mother stood still on the platform
Wondering when they'd see Danny again.

Preparing to turn from the old place,
The moment would haunt him for years.
With each last embrace, as he looked face to face,
He couldn't see clearly for bitter soft tears.

And the Lakes of Killarney were fading
With the scent of his homeland still strong
As the band by the lee played "The Rose of Tralee"
And he stepped on the boat and was gone.

The rising pale moon was one full of tunes
In the bars of the Bronx full of song,
And his letters of hope and good fortune
Brought his young brother Patrick along.

He signed all the immigrant papers
Pledged allegiance to old Uncle Sam,
But young Pat didn't know in a few months or so
He'd be drafted and stationed in South Vietnam.

And the Lakes of Killarney were fading
And his journey was silent and long
As he stared at the sea, hummed the "Rose of Tralee"
All the way to the Rose of Saigon.

So Danny enlisted soon after.
He couldn't see Patrick go wrong.
There were days of enjoyment and laughter
And nights full of old Kerry songs.

Then Patrick was sent to the front line
On a mission destined to fail.
Khe Sanh was the spot his damn unit got caught,
Cut off and surrounded by the Ho Chi Minh trail.

And the Lakes of Killarney were fading
And his dying was painful and long.
In his eyes he could see the Rose of Tralee
When all he heard was the Rose of Saigon.

So Danny returned a civilian
With an extra identity tag,
And his link with the world so familiar
Was wrapped in his new country's flag.

Experience shed with a nation
Brought a sense of belonging at last,
When one day on that wall made him sad to recall
The faces, the voices, the sounds of the past.

And the Lakes of Killarney were fading
Like the memories of laughter and song,
When Patrick and he sang the "Rose of Tralee"
All erased by the Rose of Saigon.

[Sung by Danny Doyle on "Under a Connemara Moon," Rego Irish CD #3039, 1996. According to Allmusic.com, the songwriters are "Corcoran, McCann, Taylor."]