I really like this by Mark Stuart and Stacey Earle. Written from the POV of someone who stayed at home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6hOT8d8pKw


The Old Watch

My friend he stepped on the train
To go far away and fight war
Something I saw in his eyes told me
I would see my friend no more

I'll be back, he said to me
And he gave me an old pocket watch
Count the seconds, till the second I'm home
We'll rejoice for the war will have stopped

Chorus
There's an old watch that lay on my shelf
It's old but it still ticks away
The owner will one day reclaim it
But meanwhile the old watch will stay….
On my shelf, a ticking, a ticking, ticking away

Well my life it went through some changes
I safely lived in my home town
My friend he lived in a different world
He walked on dangerous ground

Once, he sent me a letter
I could tell he felt homesick and pain
But he mostly wrote me of visions
Of when we would meet once again

Chorus
Well the war, it finally ended
3 or 4 years had gone by
Thousands of young men returned home
But other thousands had died

My friend he is missing in action
His body may never be found
He may not even know where he is
Be injured in some foreign town

Chorus