Wonderful 99 - John Prine

You've heard about the dirty dozen and the tales of the green beret
The men that sank the bismarck and the fighting c.i. a.
But if you're talkin' danger then one name comes to mind
Make an unwise decisioncall the wonderful 99

It was way back in the nineties a dollar still was worth a dime
An international coincidence made newsweek and time
A hundred brave men or women, give or take a few
Got started on a friday nightby monday they were back in school

Two kings, a pope, and the president of the denver savings and loan
Made and unwise decision, wished they'd stayed at home
A missile launching pad didn't go as planned
The wonderful 99 were called to deliver it by hand

99 brave soldiers in 99 pair of keds
Lookin' for a motel 6 with 99 twin beds
A place to park a missile an watch some cable news
Maybe rent the top gun video and grimace like tom cruise

Now there's 99 yellow ribbons around the old oak tree
Most of it's top secret, the rest is history
It's been a couple weeks now, how the memory fades with time
Of an unwise decision and the wonderful 99