Ernest Tubb's song "Missing In Action" tells the story of a soldier who returns home from war after being wounded and left for dead. He had been captured by the enemy and made a prisoner of war but managed to escape. Upon his return, he discovers that his wife has moved on and gotten married to someone else. He finds a picture of her with another man, and a letter reveals that she believed he was dead and had moved on with her life. The soldier, heartbroken but determined, silently says goodbye to his wife, knowing it's too late for them to reconcile. He realizes that he can never reveal himself to her, for she must never know he had returned. The song expresses the soldier's feelings of loneliness, being a "vagabond dreamer" who roams aimlessly, with no one to welcome him home. The story portrays the pain and sacrifice of soldiers who may return from war changed and unnoticed, forever missing in action.
