Ballad of the Green Berets by Ssgt. Barry Sadler

Barry Sadler (November 1, 1940 – September 8, 1989) was an American author and musician. Sadler served as a Green Beret medic and Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Most of his works have military themes, and he billed himself under his military rank of Staff Sergeant as SSgt Barry Sadler. Sadler was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico, the second son of John Sadler and Bebe Littlefield of Phoenix, Arizona. Sadler's parents divorced shortly afterward, with his father dying of a rare form of nervous system cancer at age 36. Sadler dropped out of the Leadville, Colorado high school in the tenth grade. He hitchhiked across the country, and joined the U.S. Air Force after a year of wandering the country. Sadler was trained in radar and was stationed in Japan at age 17. After a few years in the Air Force, Sadler joined the Army, hoping for more excitement. While serving in the Vietnam War, he was severely wounded in the knee by a punji stick while leading a patrol in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, southeast of Pleiku in May 1965. At the time, Sadler was on an antibiotic for dysentery, so no major ill effects from the punji stick were seen. He used only a cotton swab and an adhesive bandage while finishing the patrol. Later, Sadler developed a major infection of the leg, sending him home. During dangerous surgery, Sadler's doctors had to enlarge the wound to drain it and administer penicillin. While recovering in the hospital, Sadler heard Robert F. Kennedy dedicating the new JFK Center for Special Warfare at Fort Bragg. At that moment, Sadler promised himself that if his leg fought the infection, he would give away the rights to his song. Sadler recorded his now-famous song, "Ballad of the Green Berets," a patriotic song in ballad style. The recording of his Vietnam songs was initiated by the urging of writer Robin Moore, author of the novel The Green Berets. The book became a 1968 movie, The Green Berets, starring John Wayne with the Ballad of the Green Berets arranged in a choral version by Ken Darby as the title song of the film. Moore wrote an introduction to Sadlers' autobiography, I'm a Lucky One, written with Tom Mahoney (Macmillan, 1967). The book's title is also a Sadler recorded song. The "Ballad of the Green Berets" was picked up by RCA Victor Records in early 1966 and became a fast-selling single, reaching #1 on the yearly single charts. The song was a big hit in many U.S. cities, including 2 weeks at #1 on the weekly Good Guys music survey at WMCA, the top pop music radio station in New York in 1966. Sadler recorded an album of similarly themed songs, called Ballads of the Green Berets. None of the other songs on the album (which generally tell the common tales of soldiers serving in a time of war) made an impact. Sadler's photograph also appeared on the 1966 paperback cover of Moore's book as well as on his LP and 45 version of Ballad of the Green Berets.