A Soldiers Prayer

  "A Soldier's Prayer"

(Larry Walker, Tommy Oliver) 

One hot desert morning at dawn's early light
While trudging through the sand
I found a piece of paper
Clutched in a young man's hand 

And upon that paper the words he wrote
Were not filled with despair
Just thoughts from the heart of a brave young lad
He called it, "A Soldier's Prayer" 

I took the paper from his hand and read it aloud...

Will there be a place in heaven
For a person such as me
Who, through youth and the love for life

Isn't all you'd have me be?

I've been a man but a short time now
And I'll ask you this, if I might
Isn't fighting for freedom's cause

A fight that's always right?

The men I've killed, some things I've done
Are not things I've wanted to do
But a job I believe had to be done

By we who believe in you

I had those thoughts upon my mind
When I heard that deadly sound
Then, all around me, one by one

My friends fell to the ground

Somehow I knew before it hit
Fear ran up my spine
I felt the blast tearing my side

I knew this one was mine

There'll be much grief for loved ones at home
when they learn that I am dead
Please ease their pain and let them know

These things that I have said

Time's run out, I can feel death's sting
Oh, God, please hear my plea
Let there be a place in heaven

For a person such as me

Lord, this is the chaplain, I'm here with this lad
Our country's given the finest it had
We who are older and have studied your word

Know this boy's prayer is more than just heard

It is answered with your love
And the promise that there'll be
A special place in heaven
For a person such as he