The River by Bruce Springsteen was the first song to make me cry.

Broken Things by Julie Miller tears me up.

Babies in the Mill by Dorsey Dixon is darned amazing, and extremely sad.

My husband wrote one during the Gulf War called Someone Else Has Died that I like quite a bit... here are the lyrics...

Over there across the world they hear the blast of the big canyons, but over here we just hear banners, snappin' in the wind

I hear preachers pray for war, that bombs will fall straight to their marks. Then they can all come home again

Chorus:So lay down your helmet, lay down your gun, and rest your weary head. Close your eyes and drift and dream about some warm bed. 'Cause in the distance you hear the words that no one ever says "Someone else has died"

I never did believe the lie, the lie that we could win this fight, while we watch our children fall down lifeless, their children fall down too. I wonder if that bothers you, or if it bothers them.

Ch: So lay down your helmets, lay down your guns, rest your weary heads. Close your your eyes and drift and dream about some warm bed. 'Cause in the distance you the words that no one ever says "Someone else has died"

Over there across the world, I heard a million mothers weep. It woke me up, now I can't sleep. So I just stare out in the dark, and I think about the way we are how we watch our best years slip away, and our children go away too far.

Ch: So lay down your helmets, lay down your guns, rest your weary heads. Close your your eyes and drift and dream about some warm bed. 'Cause in the distance you the words that no one ever says "Someone else has died"

(Keith Johnson, All Rights Reserved, and all that legal stuff)

Although he wrote it during the (American) Gulf War, I think it works for any era.