March 5, 1966: The Ballad of Barry Sadler

March 5, 1966: "The Ballad of the Green Berets" hits Number 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart.

It ends up as the biggest-selling record of the calendar year. Some people suspected that its sales was a conservative response to a Number 1 hit of the year before, "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire. It was a pro-America message.

But it's not a happy song: The 2nd line of the song suggests that these men, which the chorus calls "America's best," could die; and the 3rd and final verse tells of one who has died.

The U.S. Army Special Forces (a.k.a. Green Beret) soldier who wrote and sang it was Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler. Born on November 1, 1940 in Carlsbad, New Mexico, he suffered the first of many misfortunes at age 5, when his father died. His mother moved him around as she found work.

At 17, living in Colorado, he dropped out of high school, and enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he earned his GED (high school equivalency diploma). Training as a radar technician, he was honorably discharged in 1961 as an Airman 1st Class. He immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army, volunteering for Airborne and Special Forces, training as a combat medic. He was wounded in action in Vietnam in 1965.

Robin Moore, who wrote the novel The Green Berets, leading to the 1968 John Wayne film of the same title, helped Sadler with the lyrics for "The Ballad of the Green Berets" and with getting it recorded, on December 18, 1965, at RCA Studios in New York. RCA Victor Records released it in January 1966, and it hit Number 1 on March 5.

Sadler sang the song on television on The Ed Sullivan Show on CBS on January 30, The Jimmy Dean Show on ABC on February 11, The Hollywood Palace on ABC on April 2, and The John Bartholomew Tucker Show on CBS on June 1.

The song stayed Number 1 for 5 weeks, but Sadler never had another Top 20 hit. He was honorably discharged in May 1967, and moved to Tucson, Arizona. He began an acting career that never took off, but began a successful series of novels, the Casca series, historical fiction about Casca Rufio Linginius, the Roman soldier who thrust his lance into Jesus' side during the Crucifixion. In the books, this action led to Casca having eternal life, but on Earth, into the 20th Century. The series stretched to 22 books.

In 1978, in Nashville, Sadler shot and killed a man in a love triangle, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, and a judge reduced his jail sentence to 1 month. In 1984, he moved to Guatemala City, and provided free medical care to the poor there, funded by his novels. In 1988, he was shot in the head, and never fully recovered. He died of a heart attack on November 5, 1989, 4 days after his 49th birthday, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

He never married, nor had any children, so there was no son who, as the song's final verse suggested, could grow up to follow in his footsteps, and have silver wings put on his chest.

The song has been parodied many times, occasionally in bad taste. In 1987, during the Iran-Contra scandal, Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North testified before Congress about his illegal actions. But, before that, he stalled, refusing to testify, leading to a December 6, 1986 cold open on Saturday Night Live, where he was played by guest host William Shatner, as a chorus of men dressed in Marine uniforms sang, to the tune of "The Ballad of the Green Berets," "He's Ollie North, the Mute Marine." Shatner said nothing as the song went on, until the end of the sketch, when he delivered the show's traditional opening: "Live, from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

In 2018, for the 1st time, a woman passed the qualification tests for the Special Forces. So, now, a daughter, as well as a son, can grow up to be someone who'll test one day, and can win the Green Beret.

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March 5, 1966 was a Saturday. Michael Irvin, Hall of Fame receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, was born on this day.

Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Cincinnati Royals, 149-145 in overtime at the Cincinnati Gardens. Oscar Robertson scored 44 points for the Royals.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Boston Celtics, 102-85 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Wilt Chamberlain scored 27 points and grabbed 36 rebounds for the Sixers.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Francisco Warriors, 125-123 at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium (now the Bill Graham Auditorium, after the local rock concert promoter, whose career was just getting rolling at this point).

There were 2 games in the NHL. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Detroit Red Wings, 7-2 at the Montreal Forum. And the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins were not scheduled.

And in English soccer, Arsenal, the team I would one day support, were held to a 0-0 draw by Lancashire team Blackpool at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury, in North London.