"The Ballad of the Green Berets" is a 1966 patriotic song co-written and performed by

Barry Sadler Barry Allen Sadler (November 1, 1940 – November 5, 1989) was an American singer-songwriter and author whose military service influenced his work. After a stint in the United States Air Force, Sadler served in the United States Army as a Uni ...

, in the style of a ballad about the

United States Army Special Forces The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service Berets of the United States Army, headgear, is a branch of the United States Army United States Army Special Operations Comm ...

. It was one of the few popular songs of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

years to cast the military in a positive light. The song became a major hit in January 1966, reaching number one for five weeks on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

, and was ranked number one of that chart's most successful songs of 1966. It was also a crossover hit, reaching number one on ''Billboard''

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

chart and number two on ''Billboard''

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

survey. "The Ballad of the Green Berets" was the most commercially successful topical song of the Vietnam War era.

Background

Sadler began writing the song while he was training to be a Special Forces medic. After earning his Parachutist Badge, Sadler knew one line of the song would mention "silver wings upon their chests." Author

Robin Moore Robert Lowell Moore Jr. (October 31, 1925 – February 21, 2008) was an American writer who wrote '' The Green Berets'', '' The French Connection: A True Account of Cops, Narcotics, and International Conspiracy'', and with Xaviera Hollander and ...

, who wrote the book '' The Green Berets'', helped him write the lyrics and later sign a recording contract with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. The demonstation tape of the song was produced in a rudimentary recording studio at

Fort Bragg, North Carolina Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

, with the help of Gerry Gitell and Lieutenant General William P. Yarborough. The lyrics were written, in part, in honor of U.S. Army Specialist 5 James Gabriel Jr., a Special Forces operator and the first

native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was set ...

to die in Vietnam. Gabriel was killed by

Viet Cong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, and ...

gunfire while on a training mission with the

South Vietnamese Army The Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN; ; ) composed the ground forces of the South Vietnamese military from its inception in 1955 to the Fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. Its predecessor was the ground forces of the Vietnamese National Army ...

on April 8, 1962. One verse mentioned Gabriel by name, but it was not used in the recorded version. Sadler recorded the song and 11 others with

Sid Bass Sid Richardson Bass (born April 9, 1942) is an American billionaire investor and philanthropist. Early life and education Sid Richardson Bass was born on April 9, 1942. His father, Perry Richardson Bass (died 2006), built an oil fortune with u ...

at RCA's 24th Street Studios in New York City on December 18, 1965. The song and album, ''Ballads of the Green Berets'', were released in January 1966.

Release and reception

In the United States, "The Ballad of the Green Berets" shipped two million copies in its first five weeks of release, making it the then-fastest selling single in RCA's history. It topped the ''

in March 1966, staying at number one for five weeks. It placed tenth on the year-end Hot 100 chart published by ''Billboard'' in December 1966. When ''Billboard'' later revised its year-end rankings for 1966, the song was re-ranked at number one; since then, ''Billboard'' has recognized "The Ballad of the Green Berets" as the top Hot 100 song of that year. On ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' 1966 year-end chart, "The Ballad of the Green Berets" tied for first with "

California Dreamin' "California Dreamin" is a song written by John and Michelle Phillips in 1963 and first recorded by Barry McGuire. The best-known version is by the Mamas & the Papas, who sang backup on the original version and released it as a single in Dec ...

" by

the Mamas and the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were an American folk rock vocal group that recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968, with a brief reunion in 1971. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. Formed in New York C ...

. It was also the number-21 song of the 1960s as ranked by

Joel Whitburn Joel Carver Whitburn (November 29, 1939 – June 14, 2022) was an American author and music historian, responsible for setting up the Record Research, Inc. series of books on record chart placings. Early life Joel Carver Whitburn was born in W ...

. The single sold more than nine million copies. Sadler performed the song on television on January 30, 1966, on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'', and on other TV shows, including ''

The Hollywood Palace ''The Hollywood Palace'' was an hourlong American television variety show broadcast Saturday nights (except September 1967 to January 1968, when it aired on Tuesday nights) on ABC from January 4, 1964, to February 7, 1970. Titled ''The Satur ...

'' and ''

The Jimmy Dean Show ''The Jimmy Dean Show'' is the name of several similar music and variety series on American local and network television between 1963 and 1975. Each starred country music singer Jimmy Dean as host. Today, the show is best known as the first nat ...

''. "The Ballad of the Green Berets" was uniquely successful in an era of

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for protest and social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. ...

s and anti-Vietnam War sentiment, focusing not on battle but the humanity of the soldiers. Its appearance on the Billboard Country chart, despite not having any overtly country music traits, is a testament to its broad appeal. In terms of sales and chart activity, musicologist R. Serge Denisoff called "The Ballad of the Green Berets" the most successful topical song of the Vietnam War era.

In film

"The Ballad of the Green Berets" was used in the 1968

John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne, was an American actor. Nicknamed "Duke", he became a Pop icon, popular icon through his starring roles in films which were produced during Hollywood' ...

film '' The Green Berets'', based on

's book. Though Wayne personally requested the song as his theme, the film's composer,

Miklós Rózsa Miklós Rózsa (; April 18, 1907 – July 27, 1995) was a Hungarian-American composer trained in Germany (1925–1931) and active in France (1931–1935), the United Kingdom (1935–1940), and the United States (1940–1995), with extensi ...

, feared it would sound old-fashioned. Nevertheless, Rózsa made two distinct arrangements of the song for the film's opening and closing credits. Though he considered the results "corny," he realized the charismatic Wayne could "get away" with having the song as his theme. "I don't think anyone mentioned whether the music was good or bad," said Rózsa of the film's predominately negative reviews.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ballad of the Green Berets, The Songs of the Vietnam War American patriotic songs Pop ballads Barry Sadler songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in South Africa Songs about the military 1966 singles 1966 songs Anita Lindblom songs RCA Victor singles