What you didn't know about Kris Kristofferson's time as a military pilot
By Samantha Sanders/Dec. 16, 2020 3:03 pm EST
Fans of outlaw country music might not necessarily associate the genre with military service and a Rhodes Scholarship, but 84-year-old music legend Kris Kristofferson has always been a bit outside the norm. Born in Brownsville, Texas, to a military family, Kristofferson crisscrossed the country as a military brat before his family settled down in California when he was a teen. After high school, Kristofferson earned a BA in literature from Pomona College and later moved to England as a Rhodes Scholar to study literature at Oxford. But the family ties — and expectations — were strong, and in 1960, Kristofferson entered the Army, according to Military.com. Military service roots ran deep in Kristofferson's family. His father, Lars Henry Kristofferson, was a first-generation American who served as a U.S. Army Air Corps officer and as a major general in the U.S. Air Force, and Lars' own father had proudly served in the Swedish Army.
Before he was an outlaw, Kris Kristofferson was a military pilot
Kris Kristofferson with his hand on his heart Rick Diamond/Getty Images
As he explained in an interview with The Progressive, "The military was for me and my brother, you know, just a fact of life." After enlisting, Kris Kristofferson completed Ranger School and then deployed. Kristofferson was stationed in West Germany as a member of the 8th infantry division for much of his time in the Army, where he served as a helicopter pilot, eventually earning the rank of captain.
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