Will Rick Springfield Go to Jail? Singer's Vietnam War Killing Confession at 17 Raises Legal Questions

Rick Springfield has revealed that he was told a mortar he fired during the Vietnam War killed a man, a disturbing episode from his teenage years that has followed him for decades. But despite the startling admission, there is currently no indication that the 'Jessie's Girl' singer faces criminal charges or an investigation over what happened during the conflict.

The 77-year-old Australian rocker revisited the incident during the 8 September episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, describing how a trip to entertain American troops in Vietnam in 1968 unexpectedly put him in the middle of an attack.

Will Springfield Go to Jail Over Vietnam War Killing?

There is no publicly reported evidence that Springfield is facing arrest, prosecution or a criminal investigation over his account. His admission that a mortar he fired killed someone also does not, on its own, establish that he committed an unlawful killing.

Springfield's story describes an incident during active hostilities after the military encampment where he was staying came under attack. He said a radio message reported movement nearby and indicated there were no friendly forces in the area before he was invited to fire mortars.

The precise circumstances surrounding the reported death remain unclear. Springfield's account does not establish the identity or status of the person who was killed, and there is no reported evidence in the information available that he deliberately targeted a civilian, prisoner or other protected person.

Those missing facts would make it inappropriate to conclude from Springfield's comments alone that the wartime death amounted to a crime.

Rick Springfield Says He Fired Mortars During Attack

Springfield said his band spent about four months touring Vietnam, including areas around Saigon and Da Nang, while entertaining American troops.

During a stay with Navy personnel at Marble Mountain outside Da Nang, Springfield said the encampment came under attack. While others sheltered in perimeter bunkers, he remained in a radio shack and began loading mortars.

Springfield recalled approaching the situation with the mindset of a teenager who did not appreciate its consequences.

'It was John Wayne time,' he told Rogan, adding that as a young man he 'didn't really understand' what he was doing. Springfield said he fired several mortars and later realised how dangerous the situation had been, including the risk of seriously injuring himself.

The consequences became apparent the following day.

Springfield said he was told one of the mortars had struck somebody, recalling people telling him, 'Hey, you got one!'

Vietnam War Memory Still Haunts Rick Springfield

Decades later, Springfield said he still struggles to reconcile himself with the possibility that his actions ended another person's life.

'I think it's still there,' Springfield said when Rogan asked how long he had carried the experience. He described the memory as something involving 'another guy, another place' despite acknowledging his role in what happened.

He said it remained difficult to face being 'responsible for the end of a life,' while stressing that he was young, caught in a war and did not fully understand what he was doing at the time.

Experience Remains Difficult To Process

The podcast discussion brought renewed attention to Springfield's wartime experience, although his time in Vietnam is not a newly disclosed chapter of his life.

Springfield has previously discussed the episode, including in his 2010 autobiography, 'Late, Late at Night: A Memoir.' His latest account, however, offers a stark reminder of how a teenage musician's tour entertaining troops became intertwined with the violence of the Vietnam War.

Springfield told Rogan that the experience remains difficult to process more than half a century later, describing the reality of having potentially taken a life as 'pretty heavy.'