Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler

America was split by controversy in 1966 over a single that entered the US chart by this former member of the US Army Special Forces, whose leg was injured in a booby trap while on active service. 

The Ballad of The Green Berets was a narrative spoken over a martial rhythm, extolling the activities of his unit in Vietnam. It eventually topped the US singles charts.

Sadler was not heard of again for some years, although in 1978 he was involved in the Nashville shooting of songwriter Lee Bellamy. 

Then in 1981, Sadler was also involved in the shooting of his erstwhile business partner. Sadler protested his innocence by saying "I was a Green Beret - If I'd shot him he'd be dead".

Sadler himself died of a heart attack in 1989, a year after being shot in the head during a robbery at his home in Guatemala.