SSG Barry Sadler Shot In The Head On This Day In Music [VIDEO]

Hey Gang,

Sad day in music history today. Staff Sargent Barry Sadler is seriously wounded in Guatemala on this day in 1988.

The "Ballad Of The Green Berets" singer was shot in the head while riding in a cab.  He was flown to the U.S. to be treated but slipped into a coma.  He recovered but suffered brain damage.  He died 14 months later at his mom's home in Tennessee.

To this day there are rumors on who shot him, and why.  His death has been attributed to suicide, accident, robbery, and political intrigue.

"The Ballad of the Green Berets" was made into a movie starring John Wayne, and the song hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March of 1966.

Ten years before his death Sadler killed a man.  He got into a dispute over a woman with country music songwriter Lee Emerson Bellamy.  The woman in question was Darlene Sharp.  She was Bellamy's former girlfriend who started dating Sargent Sadler.  Bellamy, according to witnesses, made threatening phone calls to Sadler, and numerous threats to Sadlers life.   Sadler claimed self defense, but was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 1979.  He appealed and won.  His sentence was reduced to 21 days.