Ok. I’m gonna tell you about Sgt. Barry Sadler, a highly decorated Vietnam Vet who scored an absolutely massive chart-topping patriotic hit in 1966 with “The Ballad of the Green Berets”
But I have to warn you…this story is pretty freakin’ rough. Actually, the song is pretty rough too–and not just because of how painfully earnest it is. The subject matter is kind of heavy too.
Anyway, it all gets kind of dark. You’ve been advised. Here goes.
Born to Serve
Barry Sadler was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico in 1940. His father died when he was young leaving his mother to raise him alone. They moved around a lot during Barry’s teenage years as his mother sought out employment opportunities.
At 17, Barry dropped out of high school to begin his lifelong affiliation with the U.S. military. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1958 and worked as a radar technician in Japan until his 1961 discharge.
Once his service in the Air Force was completed, Sadler immediately enlisted in the army. He subsequently completed medic training before shipping out to Vietnam, where a new conflict was just heating up. There, Sadler served as a Green Beret between 1964 and 1965.
Sadler was severely wounded during combat patrol when his knee was punctured by a jagged, feces-covered stick. Though Sadler treated the wound and continued his patrol, the resulting infection proved serious enough to end his military career.
He would, however, make a full recovery and earn an honorable discharge as a highly decorated veteran, all at a time before public sentiment had turned against the war in Vietnam and the U.S. military in general.
He turned his war hero status into overnight success.
Barry Saddles the Charts
In December of 1965, he entered the studio to record “The Ballad of the Green Berets.” Sadler had co-written the song with Robin Moore, author of a book entitled The Green Berets. It was also Moore who introduced Sadler to his friends at RCA Victor.
He earned a recording contract and cut a full-length album of military-themed songs. The title tune, “Ballad of the Green Beret” shot like a cannon to the top of the charts, holding the #1 spot for five weeks in 1966.
Whilst atop the charts Sadler appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, resplendent with military medals. He also produced an autobiography, and lent his chart-topper to a John Wayne movie adaption of Robin Mooore’s novel.
Sadler did briefly return to the charts with a song called “The ‘A’ Team”, which reached #28 on the Billboard Hot 100. (Don’t get too excited. It’s not that “A-Team”…I checked.)
That was pretty much the end of Sadler’s charting days. As public support for the war eroded, Sadler’s patriotic sympathies fell out of public favor as well. Sadler moved to Arizona and attempted a brief career in acting. He appeared in a few minor Western roles but that was about it.
Soldier of Misfortune
Relocating to Nashville in the late ’60s, Sadler began an unlikely and highly successful career as a pulp novelist. He was actually stunningly prolific, going on to produce 22 books in a series about a cursed Roman soldier named Casca Rufio Longinius.
But in a case of life imitating art, Sadler may himself have been a cursed soldier. In 1978, Sadler found himself embroiled in a deadly love triangle. Sadler was in a relationship with a woman named Darlene Sharpe. Her ex-paramour, a country songwriter named Lee Emerson Bellamy, struggled to cope with the rejection.
The jilted songwriter subjected the new couple to a constant barrage of phone calls, harassment, and threats. These events ultimately led to a confrontation outside of Sharpe’s home. Believing Bellamy to be armed, Sadler fired a single shot at the man as he fled in his pickup truck.
Sadler’s bullet struck Bellamy between the eyes, killing him instantly. Sadler then planted a gun in the unarmed man’s truck and claimed to have acted in self defense. Though initially sentenced to five years in prison for involuntary manslaughter, Sadler ultimately received a reduced sentence, serving just 28 days.
In 1984, Sadler moved to Guatemala City, where continued his work on the Casca series. In 1988, Sadler was struck in the head by a bullet while sitting in a cab in what is believed to have been a robbery.
The attack left him paralyzed. A year later, Sadler died of complications from his injuries at the age of 49.
On the bright side, his Casca book series proved popular enough that other authors have since taken the reins and added new installments. Though Sadler passed away in 1989, new volumes have been published as recently as the early 2000s.
The only other thing I can really think of to cheer you up is the actual theme from the A-Team, which again, has nothing to do with Barry Sadler.
Enjoy!