[Verse 1] In a battlefield hospital In the fall of forty-five An old sergeant lay dying With a chaplain at his side He said, "Pad I've made big mistakes I can't change my life But if I had an hour I could set a few things right So when you get up to heaven Won't you tell them that I tried [Verse 2] Said Padre I'm a father Got a boy who's twenty-three I walked out on his mom years ago And they never heard from me And the'll be no peace in dying 'Cause I can't let him know That not a single day