Long before Rick Springfield became a rock star and heartthrob, he found himself caught in the Vietnam War.Springfield revealed he made a split-second decision that he said ended another man's life and has haunted him ever since during an appearance on the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.The Australian singer explained that his unlikely brush with combat began when his band traveled to Vietnam in 1968 to entertain American troops during the war.According to Springfield, the U.S.
soldiers "wanted to see, you know, girls that reminded them of home."LEE GREENWOOD RECALLS SURVIVING ENEMY FIRE IN PANAMA AFTER WHITE HOUSE SENT HIM TO ENTERTAIN TROOPSRick Springfield recalled the haunting Vietnam War experience that began when his band traveled there to entertain American troops.(Scott Dudelson/Getty Images)"So as long as we had a couple of girls in the band, they would hire you, and you could tour Vietnam during the war zone," he added.
"It was pretty insane.We were there for about four months."Springfield said he went into the experience with few expectations beyond earning a paycheck."It was insane.
I thought, 'Oh, great.We'll make money, you know.' And, of course, we didn't make any money.
We spent it all at the PX, and we weren't making much money anyway."GET ENTERTAINMENT SCOOP DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR EMAIL BY CLICKING HEREDuring an attack, Rick Springfield said he fired a mortar after being told there were no friendly forces nearby.(Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)What began as a gig entertaining troops quickly became deadly serious when Springfield found himself caught in an attack."We met these guys, and we really got along well, and we stayed overnight with them, and we went 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.""It was freaky," Springfield noted.
"This is before – you couldn't do any of this now."The gravity of what happe...