It Happened 50 Years Ago: SSgt Barry Sadler “The Ballad Of The Green Berets”

Carlsbad, New Mexico-born U.S. Army staff sergeant Barry Sadler placed two songs on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart during his stint as a popular music recording artist in the mid-1960s, with both singles reaching the Top 40. The biggest hit of the two — and the song for which Sadler is most known — was “The Ballad of the Green Berets,” which exactly 50 years ago climbed to number one for a five-week stay.