I'm in the military so I put this in that kind of state of mind. 1st paragraph is all about a friend who you've left down in the battlefield who keeps flashing in your head because you were there when he went down. Then the chorus kicks in and he has a flashback of walking down the halls with his friend, trying to keep going and not looking back, never knowing what's going to be around the corner. 3rd paragraph is still while he's having a flash back. He tries to be the hero and as a result ends committing the "crime" of getting one of his friends hurt. Chorus kicks in and same thing. 5th paragraph is him standing at his friends grave, wishing he could trade anything for him back, reading the writing on the grave stone and asking himself why does he keep reading as tears stream down his face. "I won't lose my place in line" "I've been here too long i've spent too much time" means that he has spent too much time deployed to be a victim like his other friends. The rest is repetitive.