He said son, have you seen the world?
Well, what would you say if I said that you could
Just carry this gun, you'll even get paid
I said that sounds pretty good
Black leather boots
Spit-shined so bright
They cut off my hair but it looked alright
We marched and we sang
We all became friends
As we learned how to fight
A hero of war
Yeah that's what I'll be
And when I come home
They'll be damn proud of me
I'll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Cause it's a flag that I love
And a flag that I trust
I kicked in the door
I yelled my commands
The children, they cried
But I got my man
We took him away
A bag over his face
From his family and his friends
They took off his clothes
They pissed in his hands
I told them to stop
But then I joined in
We beat him with guns
And batons not just once
But again and again
A hero of war
Yeah that's what I'll be
And when I come home
They'll be damn proud of me
I'll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Cause it's a flag that I love
And a flag that I trust
She walked through bullets and haze
I asked her to stop
I begged her to stay
But she pressed on
So I lifted my gun
And I fired away
And the shells jumped through the smoke
And into the sand
That the blood now had soaked
She collapsed with a flag in her hand
A flag white as snow
A hero of war
Is that what they see?
Just medals and scars
So damn proud of me
And I brought home that flag
Now it gathers dust
But it's a flag that I love
The only flag that I trust
He said, son, have you seen the world?
Well what would you say, if I said that you could?
Well, what would you say if I said that you could
Just carry this gun, you'll even get paid
I said that sounds pretty good
Black leather boots
Spit-shined so bright
They cut off my hair but it looked alright
We marched and we sang
We all became friends
As we learned how to fight
A hero of war
Yeah that's what I'll be
And when I come home
They'll be damn proud of me
I'll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Cause it's a flag that I love
And a flag that I trust
I kicked in the door
I yelled my commands
The children, they cried
But I got my man
We took him away
A bag over his face
From his family and his friends
They took off his clothes
They pissed in his hands
I told them to stop
But then I joined in
We beat him with guns
And batons not just once
But again and again
A hero of war
Yeah that's what I'll be
And when I come home
They'll be damn proud of me
I'll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Cause it's a flag that I love
And a flag that I trust
She walked through bullets and haze
I asked her to stop
I begged her to stay
But she pressed on
So I lifted my gun
And I fired away
And the shells jumped through the smoke
And into the sand
That the blood now had soaked
She collapsed with a flag in her hand
A flag white as snow
A hero of war
Is that what they see?
Just medals and scars
So damn proud of me
And I brought home that flag
Now it gathers dust
But it's a flag that I love
The only flag that I trust
He said, son, have you seen the world?
Well what would you say, if I said that you could?
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The song is amazing. It is also clearly not criticizing soldiers.
It is a display of human nature. The example of pissing in the prisoners hands is obviously referencing Abu Ghraib and it even notes that he first tried to tell them to stop before joining in. If anything its sympathizing with the people involved in that horrific incident, explaining that even if the soldier knew what he was doing was wrong, peer pressure pulled him in. The hate that is fed to them pulled them in. They're products of their environment.
The shooting of the female is the same way. I'd shoot her too, no one is about to wait to find out if she has a bomb strapped to her or not. Hindsight is 20/20, though, so when she falls and it becomes clear that she only wanted peace, that can do nothing but put a heavy strain on the feelings of the solider involved. It's hard to feel good about what you're doing when you're forced into these situations.
But it's not saying they're wrong - it's saying that war is ugly. The soldier, if anything, is being praised for having to go through with it to protect the rights of humans around the world.