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Rock star Rick Springfield has revealed that, when he was 19, he killed a man with a mortar bomb in South Vietnam.

He still struggles with the lasting impact of his split-second decision decades later.

Springfield, now 77, was part of Australian pop-rock band MPD Limited in the early days of his career, and the group travelled to the country in 1968 to provide entertainment for troops.

They remained there for around four months, right in the middle of the Vietnam War, which was fought from 1955 to 1975.

The youngsters agreed to the stint in the war zone, Springfield said, because they ‘weren’t making much money,’ and saw it as an opportunity to earn some, albeit via ‘insane’ means.

However, things took a frightening turn when an attack was launched one night as he and his bandmates were sleeping in the bunkers.

Radio messages came through about nearby movement, confirming there were ‘no friendlies in the area’.

During an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the Jessie’s Girl singer recalled the choice he made to throw mortar bombs when asked if he wanted to. They are typically dropped down a metal tube, during which a charge is ignited, and they explode after hitting a target.

‘We met these guys, and we really got along well, and we stayed overnight with them, and we all got in the bunkers, in the perimeter bunkers, and I stayed in the radio shack, and we got attacked, and I’m throwing mortars down the freaking tube of the radio shack,’ he recounted.

‘It was freaky,’ he added, noting that ‘you couldn’t do any of this now’ and comparing it to a scene from a movie.

Springfield added: ‘It was John Wayne time, you know?’

‘I mean, as a young kid, I didn’t really understand what I was doing.’

The next day, he learned that he had hit somebody with a bomb, with another person congratulating him by saying, ‘Hey, you got one. You got one!’

Springfield called the aftermath ‘the hardest thing’, continuing: ‘And that was… it still has a place… hard place to land in me, you know?

‘And that’s really the kind of one thing I brought back with me that I couldn’t really find a place for that to land. And still… it still seems like, you know, years ago, another guy, another place.’

Springfield still finds it difficult to process that he ‘was responsible for the end of a life’, irrespective of the circumstances.

‘Even though it’s distant and it’s war, and I didn’t really have anything to do with it and didn’t really know what I was doing.’

Springfield celebrated his 77th birthday last month, during which time he went viral for his muscular physique, as fans declared he was ‘defying the laws of ageing’.

The music icon still performs with high energy, which has been highly praised, as well as his lasting ‘charisma’.

Previously, Springfield detailed the healthy lifestyle habits that help him stay fit and strong in his late 70s.

‘I work out every day,’ he told People.

‘I just got a trainer, and I’ve been working out with him. Basically, I watch what I eat, and I try and stay active.’

Following his teens, Rick was a member of the group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, and kicked off his solo career with his single Speak to the Sky, which charted in the top 10 Down Under.

Upon moving to the US, he scored a number one hit with 1981 tune Jessie’s Girl, after which he won a Grammy.

Springfield has also had numerous acting roles over the years, including episodes of General Hospital, Supernatural, Hot in Cleveland, and American Horror Story.


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