Hello from Iraq, its been a lovely war. I'm looking for any info on When John Denver and Fred "Mr Rogers" Rogers were in the service. I'm 99 percent sure that Denver was a Corps sniper, but Rogers is tough to pin down. SO if anyone has any info on them, it would be appriciated. We'll keep killing the bad guys!!!

-- Rick Powell (rpowell75@hotmail.com), July 22, 2003

Answers

Just because you couldnt find military records doesnt mean a thing. My father served as a paratrooper in WWII I have his wings and many pictures of his unit with him in them during the occupation of Japan - A letter from Ronald Reagan and Governor Kean NJ given me after my fathers death thanking him for his service / flag etc...his records cant be found either. My sister and her husband are both in the military (sister is a Cpt in the Army and Bro a Col in the Marines and they cant locate his records. Not saying that Denver was or wasnt a sniper - just saying that military records shouldnt be the deciding factor - Anyone have a better method for searching Military records contact me please... Thanks! Neil Mc Kiernan

-- Neil Mc Kiernan (nmckiernan@hotmail.com), May 04, 2004.

Take it from me, a former 10th Specail Forces, light weapons specialist, team sniper. Neither fit the profile. I also checked military records back to 1945 for their names, neither showed up on any information for service records. John Denver was a cool guy and did some great music, and Fred was a very good person all the same! Admirations all! Sniper X

-- Sniper X (vaughn777@cs.com), March 19, 2004.

Hey Rick - Thanks for serving our Country. With regards to John Denver and Fred Rogers, it's an Urban Legend.

http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/denver.htm

-- morgan (cokieandmorgan@aol.com), March 03, 2004.

John Denver died in a crash of his homebuilt airplane many years ago, over water, unfortunately with alcohol in his bloodstream ( not acceptable for pilots ). He had lost his medical clearance due to his alcohloism and was not flying legally.

-- David Owens (down2@comcast.net), February 22, 2004.

O.K. people, pass this one on to everyone that you know; neither John Denver nor Fred Rogers were ever in the military at all much less snipers or SEAL's. All you have to do is read their bio's on their official web sites to find this out. JD's http://www.johndenver.com/biography/bio_home.html FR's http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/R/htmlR/rogersfred/rogersfred.htm

Nuff said

-- John Smith (o3shooter@yahoo.com), January 07, 2004.

I'm just an old redneck down here in Louisiana, but I'm 99.999% sure I read where Roger was a Navy Seal. They talked about the seal tatoo's on his forearm. That is why he never in all of his years on TV never wore a short sleve shirt. If I ever run across the article I'll direct you to it.

-- Doug (del9555@earthlink.net), January 01, 2004.

It is true that he was a sniper!! The American Legion - Lounge 5400 East Yale Avenue, Denver, Colorado, (which really is his home town), has a wall plaque describing his service as a sniper during the Vietnam war. He was well decorated for this. John never talks about it publicly, (actually he refuses to comment altogether on the subject). His rifle "Sunshine" has the bolt removed and the barrel sealed and hangs next to the plaque at the Denver Legion too. I've seen it! This guy's my freakin HERO!!

-- ogiko enchilad (ogri@cornerpub.com), November 30, 2003.

Don't know for sure about Denver - he seems like a non-hacker, back- on-the-block jody draft-dodger (Vietnam-era terminology for "civilian"). Rogers, if he served at all, would probably have been as a Chaplain or Chaplain's Assistant.

-- Bob Chattin (surbat6@earthlink.net), November 25, 2003.

Hey Rick, did you know that they took the word gullable out of the dictionary? Seriously man, Denver and Rogers weren't snipers. We used to tell that to the new kids to fuck with them too. One of our guys would tell them that Denver's rifle's name was sunshine and ask them if they heard his song that went "Sunshine on my shoulder and I just shot a bitch". Good times.

-- Handout (fredjarvin@yahoo.com), August 11, 2003.