# Fred Rogers. Myth or Fact? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641 "2007-02-10T20:20:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bcmcknight77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c2a13f/32.png) [@bcmcknight77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bcmcknight77)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/1 "2007-02-10T20:20:53Z")
I’ve read on [snopes.com](http://snopes.com) that Fred Rogers (aka MR Rogers Neighborhood) was NOT a merchant marine. I’ve read on [factropolis.com](http://factropolis.com) that Mr. Rogers spent most of his life suppressing his military career, but in 2000 a documentary was released. On the documentary was one of the tattoo artists that worked on Mr. Rogers sleeves. Which is the truth? ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/2 "2007-02-10T21:14:52Z")
[snopes.com](http://snopes.com) cites its sources. “factropolis” doesn’t. I know which one I believe. Why would you give more weight to the one which provides no evidence for its claims? I love the second “fact.” Big bold type: “ **Harriet Tubman was a lesbian.** ” Smaller italic type: _…Note: there is disagreement on this topic…_ What a useless site. The comment which you read (because the authors didn’t clarify until called out on it) says “Wikipedia is the victim of a decades-long public relations campaign orchestrated by Fred Rogers and the Rogers estate.” Umm…sure. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/3 "2007-02-10T21:26:36Z")
Mr. Rogers got his _sleeves_ tattooed? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/4 "2007-02-10T21:30:27Z")
[QUOTE=bcmcknight77] I’ve read on [snopes.com](http://snopes.com) that Fred Rogers (aka MR Rogers Neighborhood) was NOT a merchant marine. I’ve read on [factropolis.com](http://factropolis.com) that Mr. Rogers spent most of his life suppressing his military career, but in 2000 a documentary was released. On the documentary was one of the tattoo artists that worked on Mr. Rogers sleeves. Which is the truth? [/QUOTE] Why would Fred Rogers suppress being in the Merchant Marines, IF he actually had been? Is there some kind of disgrace or dishonor attached to serving in the Merchant Marines? Of course not! If Fred Rogers had been in that service, he could have said so, and it wouldn’t have harmed his reputation in the least. What on Earth would he have to gain by suppressing it? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/5 "2007-02-10T22:53:51Z")
Guys, it’s much worse than you think. Not only did Fred Rogers hide his military career (where he was trained as a sniper), but he was the leader of a team that assassinated President Kennedy. He was called back into action by the CIA/Mafia/Cuban group that planned the assassination. Besides Rogers, the group of three snipers assigned to the job included John Denver (who secretly received sniper training from friends of his father, an Army officer) and Dr. Ruth Westheimer, who had been a sniper in the Israeli army. The assassination planners thought that these three would never be suspected - and they never were - until _now_. ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/6 "2007-02-10T22:59:47Z")
Next you’ll be telling us that Jesse Ventura and Alex Trebeck are Men in Black. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/7 "2007-02-10T23:04:52Z")
Ah, the Neighborhood of Make-Believe… ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/8 "2007-02-10T23:09:50Z")
[QUOTE=labtrash] Next you’ll be telling us that Jesse Ventura and Alex Trebeck are Men in Black. [/QUOTE] Awright, that’s it. Look into this flashy thing for a sec, willya? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/9 "2007-02-10T23:40:58Z")
[QUOTE=astorian] Why would Fred Rogers suppress being in the Merchant Marines? [/QUOTE] Maybe it was the same merchant marine Ernest Hemingway described: “Oh gash is fine, but one-eye for mine.” ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2007, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/10 "2007-02-10T23:55:23Z")
[QUOTE=Vlad/Igor] Awright, that’s it. Look into this flashy thing for a sec, willya? [/QUOTE] What did Alex Trebek say to the man who knew too much? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/11 "2007-02-11T00:30:17Z")
> [@](#): > > What did Alex Trebek say to the man who knew too much? And our returning champion, Ken, with a 73-day total of $3,762,548 ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@Evil\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Joe)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/12 "2007-02-11T00:41:11Z")
I heard he was a slave owner too. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/13 "2007-02-11T02:40:35Z")
I heard that he was once Chuck Norris’s Sensei, before the Learner became the Master and roundhouse-kicked him into a finely-crafted cardigan sweater. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/14 "2007-02-11T03:24:02Z")
A top-level source close to Rogers spilled the beans under conditions of supreme secrecy. Apparently the fact of the matter is: > [@](#): > > “Meow-meow meow, Meow meow ‘Castro’ meow-meow. Meow ‘Industrial drill-press’ meow meow.” ---
**Author:** ![bcmcknight77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c2a13f/32.png) [@bcmcknight77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bcmcknight77)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/15 "2007-02-11T03:24:56Z")
All very good points, everyone. Thanks. Any chance anyone saw the documentary they are referring to? I might check it out, just for grins. Interesting, though, that factropolis doesn’t say _which_ video it is. Oh well, how many documentaries about Mr Rogers could have possibly come out in 2000? ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/16 "2007-02-11T03:37:14Z")
Oh, Fred, what have you got yourself into? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/17 "2007-02-11T04:01:34Z")
_Meow-meow B.S._ ---
**Author:** ![shamrock227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@shamrock227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamrock227)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/18 "2007-02-11T04:12:00Z")
[QUOTE=labtrash] Next you’ll be telling us that Jesse Ventura and Alex Trebeck are Men in Black. [/QUOTE] ssssssshhhhhhhh! You promised you wouldn’t tell! If you wake up dead tomorrow, don’t blame us. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/19 "2007-02-11T05:30:39Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Mr. Rogers got his _sleeves_ tattooed? [/QUOTE] Having tattoos that cover one’s arms is called being sleeved. Btw, Fred Rogers’ tattoos are _ninja_ tattoos. It’s a fact, sure as there is a treasure map on the back of the consitiution. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641/20 "2007-02-11T05:33:15Z")
[QUOTE=Raguleader] I heard that he was once Chuck Norris’s Sensei, before the Learner became the Master and roundhouse-kicked him into a finely-crafted cardigan sweater. [/QUOTE] No no, you’ve got it [backwards.](http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/ultimate+showdown/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fred-rogers-myth-or-fact/391641.md?page=2)