Posted on 08/28/2021 7:42:47 PM PDT by narses
Thanks to Hollywood, America’s collective memory of the Vietnam War is now inextricably linked with the popular music of that era. More specifically, it is linked with the music of the late-'60s counterculture and antiwar movement. But opposition to the war was far from widespread back in 1966—a fact that was reflected not just in popular opinion polls, but in the pop charts, too. Near the very height of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, on March 5, 1966, American popular-music fans made a #1 hit out of a song called “The Ballad Of The Green Berets” by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler.
Sadler was exactly what his name and uniform implied he was: a real-life, active-duty member of the United States Army Special Forces—the elite unit popularly known as the Green Berets. In early 1965, Sadler suffered a severe punji stick injury that brought a premature end to his tour of duty as a combat medic in Vietnam. During his long hospitalization back in the United States, Sadler, an aspiring musician prior to the war, wrote and submitted to music publishers an epic ballad that eventually made its way in printed form to Robin Moore, author of the then-current nonfiction book called The Green Berets. Moore worked with Sadler to whittle his 12-verse original down to a pop-radio-friendly length, and Sadler recorded the song himself in late 1965, first for distribution only within the military, and later for RCA when the original took off as an underground hit. Within two weeks of its major-label release, The Ballad of the Green Berets had sold more than a million copies, going on to become Billboard magazine’s #1 single for all of 1966.
While it would not be accurate to call “The Ballad Of The Green Berets” a pro-war song, it was certainly a song that enjoyed popularity among those who opposed the growing anti-war movement. A year after “Green Berets” came out, Buffalo Springfield would release the anti-war anthem “For What It’s Worth,” which continues to be Hollywood’s go-to choice for many films and television programs depicting American involvement in the Vietnam War. On this day in 1966, however, the American airwaves belonged to a clean cut, uniformed member of the U.S. Army and his anti-antiwar epic.
We had this on a 45
I remember that song !!
Used to frequent a dance club in the 70’s. The owner was a Vietnam era Marine. He used to close the place playing this song.
He was also a author - he penned “Casca: The Eternal Mercenary” book series.
Anybody read his “Casca” series of books?
Casca novels are good reads. The originals are best.
Same here. My older, teenage, girl cousin played and sang the song on her ukulele when we visited. I was probably 10 or so.
He had problems later on:
Sadler’s music career stalled after one marginally successful follow-up. Before long, hundreds of thousands in royalty dollars were gone to booze and bad business sense. Less than 15 years after his song hit No. 1, Sadler was charged with murder in Nashville. As that legal struggle began, so did Sadler’s successful second act as pulp-fiction novelist. After years of drinking and womanizing, he spent his final years living apart from his family in Central America, where the carousing continued. In September 1988, he was shot in the head in a taxicab in Guatemala City. Who shot him remains unclear. Sadler died the following year, not yet 50 years old.
Died on Central America-of what?
When my son calls me, that is the ring tone.
I have the entire series on EPUB
Incidentally, this is the second record that I bought--the first was "Louie, Louie" by the Kingsmen and the third was "The Ballad of the Green Berets" by Barry Sadler.
See post 11.
RIP soldier.
I’ve encountered plenty of people who claim to be VN vets, but ask them their service number or favorite base or any service specific question and they quickly leave without an answer. I wonder how many of these people were protesters.
Remember Abbe Hoffman, former bomber, ended up as a trader on the Chgo. Stock Exchange. Obama’s buddy, the former Weather Underground member wrote school curricula.
Freedom's Cause--Bill Floyd (1966)
The Minutemen (Are Turning in their Graves)--Stonewall Jackson (1966)
The Ballad of the Yellow Beret--The Beach Bums (1966)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.