Barry Sadler: Ballad of the Green Berets (1966)

Ballad of the Green Berets was written and performed by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler. Sadler was a medic with US Special Forces and arrived in Vietnam with the first deployment of combat troops. In May 1965 Sadler suffered a leg wound from a punji spike daubed in human excrement. He penned Ballad of the Green Berets, a song about his unit, while recovering from the subsequent infection. With Army approval, Sadler recorded and released it in January 1966. It received a great deal of radio airplay, sold more than one million copies and reached number one on the US singles charts. As the title suggests, Ballad of the Green Berets is a tribute to US Special Forces soldiers. Its lyrics do not mention the Vietnam War, though Sadler’s own service in Vietnam led many to interpret it as sympathetic to the conflict there.

Fighting soldiers from the sky
Fearless men who jump and die
Men who mean just what they say
The brave men of the Green Beret

Silver wings upon their chest
These are men, America’s best
One hundred men will test today
But only three win the Green Beret

Trained to live off nature’s land
Trained in combat, hand-to-hand
Men who fight by night and day
Courage peak from the Green Berets

Silver wings upon their chest
These are men, America’s best
One hundred men will test today
But only three win the Green Beret

Back at home a young wife waits
Her Green Beret has met his fate
He has died for those oppressed
Leaving her his last request

Put silver wings on my son’s chest
Make him one of America’s best
He’ll be a man they’ll test one day
Have him win the Green Beret.

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