Rick Springfield Reveals Decades-Old Trauma: Killing a Man in Vietnam at 17
Rick Springfield, the Australian singer known for 'Jessie's Girl,' disclosed on the Joe Rogan Experience that he killed a Viet Cong fighter during a 1968 tour to entertain U.S. troops in Vietnam. At age 17, Springfield was staying at a Navy encampment near Da Nang when the base was attacked. He stated that he helped fire mortars from a radio shack, and the next day was informed that one of his shots had killed an enemy combatant. Springfield, now 77, said the memory still haunts him, describing it as difficult to face the reality that he was responsible for ending a life, even though he was a teenager who did not fully understand the gravity of the situation at the time. He also noted that many soldiers he met were conflicted about their presence in Vietnam. This experience, which he previously detailed in his 2010 memoir 'Late, Late at Night,' occurred more than a decade before his 1981 breakthrough with the album 'Working Class Dog.'
