John Riecan, US Army
John's
story that became a song
LIVE OR DIE
9-5-2025
John Riecan, Don Goodman, Steve Dean
Marion Writers: Allen Webb, Brad Belt, Adam Fager, Trooper
FSUSA Marion, IL Retreat
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Joined the military signed up with a plan
Just like my grandpa and my old man
Wanted to be a ranger since I was a kid
Lookin’ back now…. I regret I never did
82nd Airborne
Went to Jump school
When I got pinned
Thought I was so cool
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Nine-Eleven 3,000 died
We deployed on the Fourth of July
Went to Kandahar, hit the ground running
Should have known then…. Hell was coming
Ambushes, ‘n small arms fire
IED’s outside the wire
In Iraq if I was going to survive
I had two choices….live or die
When children came along everybody got leave
Everybody went home everybody but me
I was in Fallujah when my daughter was born
I started losing faith in that uniform
Ma-rin-da needed me more
Than the Army did
She was home alone with
Two fatherless kids
Suicidal thoughts when I got back
Made me feel like I was still under attack
We were separated for a little awhile
But Marinda cared enough…to go the extra mile
Nightmares woke me up screaming
Jack ‘n pills had me fighting demons
Waking up next to a terrified wife
Doing her best to save my life
I came home with two choices….live or die
What does it take to save a broken soldier’s life
For me… a dog named Trooper and a faithful loving wife