Long before becoming a rock star, Rick Springfield experienced a terrifying moment during the Vietnam War that has stayed with him for decades.
During a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Springfield recalled traveling to Vietnam in 1968 at just 17 years old to entertain U.S. troops. While staying at a Navy encampment near Da Nang’s Marble Mountains, the base came under attack.
Springfield said he found himself inside a radio shack bunker and began firing mortars during the assault. After the fighting ended, he learned that one of the mortars had killed a Viet Cong soldier.
Looking back, Springfield expressed remorse over the incident and described the realization that he had taken someone’s life as a chilling memory that continues to affect him.
The singer first shared details of the experience in his 2010 memoir, Late, Late at Night, but revisiting the story decades later revealed just how deeply the wartime encounter has remained with him.
