Kris Kristofferson was a Rhodes scholar and army captain – your experience will amaze you!

If you are over 40 or enjoy classical rock and country music, you are probably familiar with Kris Kristofferson, a singer-songwriter whose hits include Me and Bobby McGehee, Help Me Make it Through the Night, Sunday Morning Coming Down, and many others. Many were big hits for other singers, from Martina McBride to Janis Joplin and Johnny Cash.

Kristofferson looks and acts like he just jumped out of the back of a turnip truck. Scruffy, rough around the edges, usually in a worn T-shirt and jeans. He speaks with a good boy accent.

Here’s what amazes me: Kristofferson is the son of an Air Force general. He was a Rhodes Scholar, just like Bill Clinton. That means he’s very, very smart. He studied English Literature. He entered the Army and was promoted to captain. He received a position at West Point as an English teacher. He gave that up to work odd jobs in the South as he forged his acting and musical career. He lived in Nashville after leaving the military in 1965, working to become a songwriter.

He swept floors at Columbia Studios in Nashville. That’s where he met Johnny Cash, but the relationship went nowhere at first (then it flourished). He was also working as an industrial helicopter pilot at the time for a company called Petroleum Helicopters International (PHI), based in Louisiana. He had trained as a helicopter pilot in the Army.

From there his musical and acting career took off, and the rest, as they say, is history. But the man who is now in his 70s and looks like a scruffy, badass singer-songwriter started life as a Rhodes scholar and an army captain.

It’s like they say: people will surprise you!