Was Mr. Rogers Really a Navy Seal Sniper Before Beloved TV Star?

Wait, was our favorite TV neighbor actually with the Navy Seals as a sniper before he graced us with his beautiful friendship? Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was an entertaining, educational children's television series that ran from 1968 to 2001.

He had puppets, characters, and plenty of A-list celebrity guests. Pre-schoolers, kindergarteners, and early elementary school-aged children couldn't wait to hang out with him and his kind, smooth, friendly voice and smile. It was a fun, magical half-hour as he spoke directly to us little kids and taught us about music, did experiments, led us through interactive arts and crafts, and took us around his neighborhood to meet people.

So, it is quite difficult to visualize reading that Fred Rogers was once a sniper with the United States Navy Seals.

According to the Moviemaker website, variations of Mr. Rogers' former life started circulating late in his life, and sure enough, they are urban legends that all started because of another man named Fred Rogers. 

The rumors were so widespread that even the Navy Seals website had to debunk the urban myth to satisfy everyone.

While there are rumors that Mr. Rogers, the host of internationally acclaimed TV show for children—Mister Roger’s Neighborhood, served as a Navy SEAL or a Marine Scout Sniper during the Vietnam era with a large number of confirmed kills, we have to state it is false. Mr. Rogers never served in the military.

According to Moviemaker, there was a guy named Fred Rogers who was a sharpshooter in the United States Marines. Once he started his own security company, he created a website, FredRogers.com. It's since been removed because of such confusion.

That website, along with rumors that television star Mr. Rogers always wore long sleeves to cover up military tattoos, really spurred this 21st-century narrative.

According to the Navy Seals, if you think this is all to hide Mr. Rogers' true identity, then this should squash the conspiracy theory.

Firstly, Mr. Rogers was born in 1928 and thus at the time of the US involvement in the Vietnam conflict was too old to enlist in the US Navy. Secondly, he had no time to do so. Right after finishing high school, Mr. Rogers went straight into college, and after graduating college directly into TV work.

He passed away in February 2003.