"Private First-Class Frank Vallone" genre: New Country
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	Little Italy, New York City is easy walking distance from the site of the former World Trade Center. For a neighborhood in Little Italy, September 11th has been a sad day for over thirty years. September 11th was the day young Private First-Class Frank Vallone USMC, was killed in action in Vietnam. September 11th, 1968. He was nineteen years old. He'd been in country about sixty-four days. A couple of months after his death, Frank's neighbors dedicated a small bronze plaque to his memory. You can still see it today, on the gate of a church on Mulberry Street. The church's name is "Church of His Most Precious Blood". I saw the plaque. I wanted to write a song to honor Frank, his neighbors who dedicated that little bronze plaque, and his neighbors who perished a few blocks away at the World Trade Center, exactly thirty-three years from the day Private First-Class Frank Vallone perished in Vietnam. I hope I did all right.
	CD: "Chaplin on the Subway" & Other New York City Songs by marc Ellis   Label: Hester Street Hotshot Records Credits: copyright 2003 Ellis & Streit Laxmi Music ASCAP
	Story Behind the Song Exactly thirty-three years before the World Trade Center was attacked, on September 11th, 1968, Private-First Class Frank Vallone, a nineteen year-old Marine from New York City's Little Italy, was killed in action. There is a bronze plaque honoring him on the gate of a Catholic Church on Mulberry Street. I saw the plaque. I saw the date. I wanted to honor him, his family, his neighbors who dedicated the plaque, and all those who died exactly thirty-three years later at the World Trade Center. Somehow, for the residents of Frank's neighborhood, his early demise was a foreshadowing of the city's future. I spent the year 2002-2003 living in Little Italy. I walked by the plaque many times. This is my small attempt to pay tribute to Frank, his neighbors and a city so magnificent, that evil people felt compelled to attack it, September 11th, 2001. Lyrics copyright 2003 Marc Ellis & Peter Streit Laxmi Music ASCAP __________________________________________ In New York City, on Mulberry Street, is a church where a man can pray alone, And on the gate of that church, is a bronze plaque that reads "To Private First-Class Frank Vallone" Just nineteen years old, And in the US Marines, A young Italian-American man, He left his buddies back home in Little Italy, to hold a rifle, in South Vietnam Refrain He was only in country for 64 days In 64 days he was gone; He flew back to New York, With an American Flag, Private First-Class Frank Vallone September 11th, 1968, While his family was sleeping back home; It was high-noon and hot, Outside his base at Quang Nam, Where Frank was ambushed with his squad, On patrol; Frank stepped up to the front of the fight; His buddies back home would be proud; Two US Marines lost their lives on that day, But they never gave up their ground; But Charlie shot first, And Frank was cut down, Before he could buy beer or could vote; The Morning Report said "Hostile Small Arms Fire" And that's all his First-Sergeant wrote; A son and his mother, A Mom and her boy; A love that can never be changed; When the letter arrived, That told them the news, Frank's Mama was never the same; Refrain He was only in country for 64 days In 64 days he was gone; He flew back to New York, With an American Flag, Private First-Class Frank Vallone; It was thirty-three years, To the day Frank died, They brought the World Trade Center down; I wonder, where were you Frank, As we were watching it fall, Could you see it collapsing To the ground? Would you still want to step to the front of the fight? Frank, would you make them pay Hell? Or have you found peace, That no man can describe, Can you tell us God's peace will one day prevail? Some college professors Say that you died in vain, The draft-dodgers were right, You were wrong; But those professors aren't fit, To clean the mud off the boots, Of Private First-Class Frank Vallone; In New York City down on Mulberry Street, is a church where a man can pray alone, And on the gate of that church, is a bronze plaque that reads "This is dedicated to the memory of PFC Frank Vallone, USMC, who gave his life for God and Country in Vietnam, September 11th, 1968. Dedicated by his friends and neighbors. Born April 4, 1949, New York City. Died September 11th, 1968 Vietnam.

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