Sgt. Barry Sadler was hailed as a hero, but in the rush to find a noble advocate for the war, the press failed to look into his background. “If you didn’t know him, you would have gotten the impression that he was an extreme kind of Nazi and anti-Jew,” said one of Sadler’s friends. “He admired the German soldier mystique and Hitler’s use of discipline.” As sales of his hit single neared one million copies, Sadler spent his royalties on vintage Nazi memorabilia.
