"SILVER WINGS UPON THEIR CHEST, THESE ARE MEN AMERICA'S BEST"

"BALLAD OF THE GREEN BERETS" #1
 
New York City (JFK+50) On March 5, 1966,"Ballad of the Green Berets,"  sung by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler*, moved to #1 on the pop charts.  The song was recorded in December 1965.  The 45 record sold 9 million copies.  An album "Ballads of the Green Berets" sold 2 million copies.

Sgt. Sadler wrote the lyrics with the help of Robin Moore.  The song honors James Gabriel, Jr., the first native Hawaiian to die in Vietnam.  The "Ballad of the Green Berets" is one of the few songs recorded during the era to cast the military in a positive way.

Barry Sadler sang "Green Berets" on the Ed Sullivan television show, January 30, 1966.**

*Barry Sadler (1940-1989) was born in Carlsbad, New Mexico & enlisted in the USAF in 1958.  BS was trained as a radar technician and was stationed in Japan.  While serving in Vietnam, he was severely wounded during a combat patrol.  BS died after being shot in the head in Guatemala City.

**Today the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center & School located at Ft. Bragg, N.C. trains personnel in the special forces.

FIGHTING SOLDIERS FROM THE SKY: THE GREEN BERETS

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1879

THE BALLAD OF THE GREEN BERETS BECAME #1 HIT 50 YEARS AGO 

New York City (JFK+50) Fifty years ago today, March 5, 1966, "The Ballad of the Green Berets," written by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler*, moved to #1 on the popular music charts.

The song about the US Army's Special Forces, better known as the Green Berets, was both written and performed by Sadler who was an active duty member and served as a combat medic before being wounded in the war in Vietnam.

"The Battle of the Green Berets" was released by RCA VICTOR RECORDS in early 1966.  The record sold over one million copies.  Only one other Sadler record, "The A Team" rose on the charts.

Later, Barry Sadler became a novelist but in 1978, he shot and killed country songwriter, Lee Emerson Bellamy, over a girlfriend.   Bellamy was a manager for Marty Robbins and George Jones.

Found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, Mr. Sadler was sentenced to four to five years in prison, but served only 21 days in a Nashville workhouse.

After having moved to Guatemala City, Barry Sadler was shot in the head while sitting in a cab during an attempted robbery.  He died of complications from the wound on September 8, 1989, at the Alvin York Medical Center in  Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

*Barry Allen Sadler (1940-1989) was born in Carlsbad, NM.  He attended high school in Leadville, CO & enlisted in the USAF at age 17.  After airborne training, he served in the US Army Special Forces.

Trained as a combat medic, BAS was wounded in South Vietnam in May 1965. He was awarded the Purple Heart as well as other service medals.


Ballad of the Green Beret
by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler
& Robin Moore (1966)

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

SOURCE

"Ballad of the Green Beret," by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler and Robin Moore, copyright 1966, www.scoutsongs.com/

Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler,

US Army Special Forces

PATENT OF THE HULA-HOOP

HULA-HOOP PATENTED 52 YEARS AGO TODAY

Emeryville, California (JFK+50) Fifty-two years ago today, March 5, 1963, the Hula-Hoop was awarded a patent by the United States Patent Office.  The children's toy was invented in 1958 by Arthur K. "Spud" Melin and Richard Knerr, founders of the Wham-O Toy Company*. 

These two entrepreneurs got their idea from watching Australian children twirling wooden hoops around their waists during gym classes.  The name for the Hula-Hoop obviously came from the famous Hawaiian dance, the Hula.

Carlon Products Corporation manufactured Hula-Hoops at the rate of 50,000 a day.  25 million hoops were sold in 4 months and sales topped 100 million by 1960.

The Hoop is hollow and made of Marlex, a plastic material made by Phillips Petroleum Corporation.

*Wham-O Toy Company was founded in 1948 and named after its signature product, a slingshot which made the distinctive "wham-o" sound.  The company, still in business today, is headquartered in Emeryville, California.

Wham-O's other products include the Frisbee, invented by Fred Morrison & initially called the "Pluto Platter,"  the "Silly String," and the "Hacky Sack."

SOURCES

"This Day In History, March 5," www.history.com/

www.toyhalloffame.org/

www.wham-o.com/

Girl Twirling Hula-Hoop

Photo by GeorgeLouis

January 1, 1958

CC BY-SA 3.0

JFK SPEAKS ON AFRICA

Manchester, New Hampshire (JFK+50) Fifty-five years ago today, March 5, 1960, Democratic presidential contender Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts spoke at Anselm's College here in Manchester.  His topic was Africa. 

Senator Kennedy said:

"If there is one area of the world where (in Jefferson's words) 'the disease of liberty is catching' that area is Africa."

JFK said that the old colonial empires were vanishing and the people of Africa were taking up the reins of self-government.

The Senator said that America's stake in the future of the African continent was large and that to succeed the people there were in need of "food...capital...and education."

JFK concluded his remarks with these words...

"The flame of hope - of freedom - of progress now burns brightly across all of Africa.  It is we Americans - as leaders of the western world - who have the great responsibility of keeping it alight."

JFK with African students

JFK Library, Boston

BALLAD OF GREEN BERETS IS NUMBER ONE

New York City (JFK+50) Forty-nine years ago today, March 5, 1966, Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler's "Ballad of the Green Berets" moved to #1 on the popular music charts.

The song about the US Army's Special Forces, better known as the Green Berets, was both written and performed by Sadler who was an active duty member and served as a combat medic before being wounded in Vietnam.

In 1978, Barry Sadler shot and killed a country songwriter over a girlfriend.  He served 21 days for voluntary manslaughter and after being shot himself in an apparent robbery died a year later, September 8, 1989, at the Alvin York Medical Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler,

US Army Special Forces

BOSTON MASSACRE 245 YEARS AGO TODAY

Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) Two hundred forty-five years ago today, March 5, 1770, a group of British Redcoats fired into a crowd of American colonists in front of the Customs House here in Boston. Five Americans were killed while several more were wounded in what colonists would call "The Boston Massacre."

Tensions between the residents of the city and the occupying British troops had been increasing. The victims were given a city-wide funeral and laid to rest in the Old Granary Burying Ground in a common grave.

The victims included Crispus Attucks, Patrick Carr, Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick and James Caldwell.  

The British soldiers involved in the shooting were tried and defended by future president John Adams and Josiah Quincy. Two of the six soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter, branded on the thumb, and released.