Editing The Ballad of the Green Berets (section)

==Background==
Sadler began writing the song while he was training to be a Special Forces medic. After earning his [[Parachutist Badge (United States)|Parachutist Badge]], Sadler knew one line of the song would mention "silver wings upon their chests."<ref name="ace">{{cite book |last=Collins |first=Ace |date=2003 |title=Songs Sung, Red, White, and Blue: The Stories Behind America's Best-Loved Patriotic Songs |url=https://archive.org/details/songssungredwhit00coll/page/42/mode/2up/ |publisher=[[HarperResource]] |location=New York |isbn=0-06-051304-7 |pages=42–43 |access-date=2025-05-15}}</ref> Author [[Robin Moore]], who wrote the book ''[[The Green Berets (book)|The Green Berets]]'', helped him write the lyrics and later sign a recording contract with [[RCA Records]]. The [[Demo (music)|demonstation tape]] of the song was produced in a rudimentary recording studio at [[Fort Liberty|Fort Bragg, North Carolina]], with the help of Gerry Gitell and Lieutenant General [[William P. Yarborough]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stripes.com/living/lifestyle/ballad-of-the-green-berets-singer-s-biographer-talks-about-barry-sadler-s-meteoric-rise-murder-charge-violent-death-1.465731|title='Ballad of the Green Berets' singer's biographer talks about Barry Sadler's meteoric rise, murder charge, violent death|work=[[Stars and Stripes (newspaper)|Stars and Stripes]]}}</ref>

The lyrics were written, in part, in honor of U.S. Army [[Specialist (rank)#United States|Specialist 5]] James Gabriel Jr., a Special Forces operator and the first [[Native Hawaiians|native Hawaiian]] to die in Vietnam. Gabriel was killed by [[Viet Cong]] gunfire while on a training mission with the [[Army of the Republic of Vietnam|South Vietnamese Army]] on April 8, 1962.<ref>{{cite web | last=Mizutani | first=Ron | title=First Native Hawaiian Killed in Vietnam Conflict Honored | date=May 18, 2010 | work=KHON2.com | publisher=[[KHON-TV]] | url=http://www.khon2.com/content/news/developingstories/story/First-Native-Hawaiian-Killed-in-Vietnam-Conflict/iSrtWYe-DEmrkW4dYH_m2Q.cspx | access-date=March 12, 2011 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616211947/http://www.khon2.com/content/news/developingstories/story/First-Native-Hawaiian-Killed-in-Vietnam-Conflict/iSrtWYe-DEmrkW4dYH_m2Q.cspx | archive-date=June 16, 2011 }}</ref> One verse mentioned Gabriel by name, but it was not used in the recorded version.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sadler |first1=Barry |last2=Mahoney |first2=Tom |date=1967 |title=I'm a Lucky One |url=https://archive.org/details/imluckyone0000sadl/page/80/mode/2up/ |location=New York |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]] |pages=80–81 |isbn=<!-- None --> |access-date=2025-05-16}}</ref>

Sadler recorded the song and 11 others with [[Sid Bass (songwriter)|Sid Bass]] at [[RCA Studios New York#24th St|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.<ref name="leepson">{{cite book |last=Leepson |first=Marc |date=2017 |title=Ballad of the Green Beret: The Life and Wars of Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler from the Vietnam War and Pop Stardom to Murder and an Unsolved, Violent Death |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ballad_of_the_Green_Beret/1DIbDgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA88-IA6&printsec=frontcover |location=Guilford, Connecticut |publisher=[[Stackpole Books|Stackpole]] |page=88 |isbn=978-0-8117-1749-6 |access-date=2025-05-16}}</ref>