ZestVibe

MURFREESBORO, TENN. -- Barry Sadler, 49, a singer-songwriter who co-wrote and recorded the hit "Ballad of the Green Berets," which was the No. 1 song in the country for five weeks in 1966 and sold 9 million singles and albums, died Nov. 5 at the VA Hospital here. He died 14 months after being shot in the head in Guatemala City, where he reportedly was training anti-communist contra fighters. Mr. Sadler suffered brain damage in the mysterious Sept. 7, 1988, shooting. He was shot as he got into a taxi in what authorities said was apparently a robbery attempt. The crime remains unsolved. According to one friend, Mr. Sadler, who was helping with firearms training for the contras, had received numerous death threats since moving to Guatemala five years ago. Since the shooting, he had been hospitalized in Cleveland or at the VA hospital here. Friends recently described Mr. Sadler as lucid and able to use one arm, though at times during his hospitalization, relatives said, he was unable to make legal decisions for himself. Mr. Sadler helped write the narrative "Ballad" while recuperating from a leg wound he received while serving as a medic in Vietnam. He was an Army staff sergeant at the time. The song glorified the fighting men of the Special Forces during the early days of America's involvement in Vietnam. He went on to write 20 adventure books featuring a mercenary named Casca, but never repeated the musical success of the ballad. His other musical efforts included producing and writing a bicentennial year album called "Of Thee I Sing." He also had established a trust fund for orphans in Vietnam. Survivors include his wife, Lavona, and three children.

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