Factropolis -- A Fun Fact Every Day!: Fred Rogers, better known as Mister Rogers, wore sweaters to conceal extensive forearm tattoos commemorating his short stint as a Merchant Marine.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Fred Rogers, better known as Mister Rogers, wore sweaters to conceal extensive forearm tattoos commemorating his short stint as a Merchant Marine.

See also:
- PBS: Mister Rogers' Neighborhood

keywords: entertainment, reverend frederick mcfeely rogers, military, famous people, religion, sailing, ship, trolley, king friday, learning, education, mr. rogers, trivia, fun fact, fact of the day

49 Comments

I was so shocked by this that I took a closer look. All information I find on the web says this is an urban legend and that Mister Rogers never served in the military.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers#Urban_legends

By shrubs, at November 10, 2006 10:59 AM
This is not an urban legend. Wikipedia is the victim of a decades-long public relations campaign orchestrated by Fred Rogers and the Rogers estate. Mr. Rogers felt that his background in the military would be harmful to his TV career, so he spent the rest of his life suppressing the truth. He was a well connected man, with strong ties to politicians and military brass, and he was able to have some of his records sealed and others fabricated to wash away much of the proof of his military service. He even paid off some of the guys who served aboard his ship. But at least one of them talked. Since his death, the press has begun to piece together some of his past. A documentary released in 2000 contained interviews with some of his fellow servicemen, a former military clerk in charge of recordkeeping for the Merchant Marines, and even the artist who did at least one of his tattoos.

By Factropolis HQ, at November 10, 2006 11:28 AM
I notice you didn't name the documentary....

By Anonymous, at August 09, 2007 8:39 AM
This IS an urban legend---and a bad one. Fred was never connected with the military. One episode features Mister Rogers swimming---with no shirt---and NO tattoos. Why you would perpetuate this false story is beyond me. Please give us the name of the documentary you mention. I didn't know that Wikipedia had been around for "decades", either---that's longer than the internet, itself!

By Anonymous, at August 30, 2007 5:08 AM
A merchant marine is not a part of the military.

By Anonymous, at August 31, 2007 5:51 PM
Ive left a few joke type responses on some of these posts, but i have actually heard a variant on this one from a friend.

It went on to say that Mr Rogers was a commended sniper in the army. My guess is that it is a legend or a joke if you can hear different "versions" of the truth then its ( in my opinion) fabrication.

By E rock, at September 03, 2007 10:56 PM
Mister Rogers never served in the US army. He did however use the sweater to conseal tattoos. Mr. Rogers was an agent for the IRA. He was obsessed with bringing our fine country to the ground and letting Irish Americans rule the earth.

By Anonymous, at September 25, 2007 11:06 PM
Actually, Fred Roger's was and alien from outer space who was out to brainwash idiots that he used to serve in the military as a sniper. He managed to accomplish this mission even without any evidence of a past military career.Meawhile, he was bent on world domination until his alien misers removed him from his post on earth.

By Anonymous, at November 11, 2007 2:50 PM
I was just in Iraq on vacation. Mr. Rogers is assigned there as the head operative of the Federal Anti Reporting Team (FART) and is currently operating under the code name "trolley."

By Anonymous, at November 20, 2007 10:20 PM
Me and Fred Rogers served together back in Nam... he was a Marine Corps Scout sniper.... he had the rank of Staff Sergeant, i was his spotter... we killed many many gooks.

By Anonymous, at November 26, 2007 6:42 PM
I'm Fred Rogers, bitch!

By Fred Rogers, bitch!, at November 29, 2007 9:42 PM
Actuall the only Military Mr. Rogers served in was in the Land of Make Believe where he was Captain of Trolley and Cheif of Staff to King Friday the Thirteenth

By Anonymous, at November 30, 2007 11:28 AM
Actually, If you look VERY closely..... Mr Rogers is in FACT.... Master chief

By manbearpig, at December 09, 2007 4:42 PM
How can we believe any of this junk on factopolis when they source nothing and this Fred Rogers tattoo thing is clearly an urban legend. No one shoudl use this site anymore. They have 0 credibility.

By Anonymous, at December 14, 2007 10:03 PM
I agree with the previous poster. This site really needs to cite sources if it wants any credibility at all.

By DPS, at January 01, 2008 9:12 PM
http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/mrrogers.asp

By Anonymous, at January 28, 2008 3:23 AM
As to the rumor of the episode involving Fred Rogers wearing no sweater and swimming... This is completely falsified... Let the records show that "Mr. Rogers" NEVER removed his sweater... Not even while taking a shower or having sex.

By Anonymous, at March 12, 2008 10:25 PM
mr. rogers did in fact serve in the USMC, he was a sniper, and he did in fact have several tattoos on his arms. on parris island, SC there is a picture of MR.Rogers (in the mess hall) wearing his sleeves rolled up bearing his tattoos proudly.

By J, at March 22, 2008 4:20 AM
All the facts on this site are shit, don't even know why they exist, people are stupid is a best guest.

By Anonymous, at May 11, 2008 3:44 PM
For those that are TRUTH seekers... Factopolis is just one of many supposed information sources that was created for the sole purpose of subversive non-factual information. This is why some of the "facts" are true; to seed the idea that everything else is true. A deceptive fabric; just enough truth woven into mostly lies. At a distance it looks perfect and nothing but the truth. Upon close inspection, you can see the flaws. A good basic rule of life is; never believe anything you read/hear and only half of what you see. Chris Angel would give you the same advise. Chris is a great illusionist. What you see isn't really happening, but it sure looks like it's real. Same with "Factopolis". It's full of illusions and comments from people with humor, as well as viciousness.
I've worked in Q clearance and inside many government operations for most of my life. I've been a truth seeker most of my life and have discovered quite a lot that was almost too fantastic to be believed, even with hard evidence. To keep the masses in the dark is the greatest control possible of those masses. There is always someone that wants to play God. It's not actually our government that does this, just a handful of skillful individuals that are against the American way of life. They are called "sleeper cells". They are everywhere. Some cells go back as far as 2000 years, handed down from family member to family member with the intent of carrying on their ideals and corruption. At first, I was going to ignore "factopolis", but I finally decided not to. I will now post the TRUTH to anyone that wants to know what the TRUTH is. I will respond whenever I can and as often as I can to any legitimate logical question about anything. I will respond with the TRUTH, rather you choose to believe it or not. At least the TRUTH will be in the mix and you have the freedom to choose what you want to believe. I will always use the heading; eboblue, so that you will know it's me and that I'm responding with the TRUTH to a question. Of course, I could be blocked by the "Factopolis" server, but I will continue as long as I'm able to access leaving an answer.

By ebo, at May 12, 2008 2:09 PM
eboblue responds:
This is my first post response to someone questioning rather Fred Rogers(Mister Rogers) has tattos on his arms and or was ever in the Merchant Marines or some military sniper, etc., etc.
TRUTH: Fred Rogers was never in the military or the merchant marines. He never had any tattoos placed anywhere on his body. There are, in fact, more than one video transcripts showing his arms, as well as a great deal of his body exposed and showing no marks or tattoos anywhere on him. This is called hard evidence. IRS files also show that Fred Rogers has been an ordained minister since 1962 and was never in the military or merchant marines. This is more hard evidence. I met Fred Rogers at a PBS gathering once. It was in the summer. He had already removed his jacket. He was wearing a JC Penny short sleeve shirt. I saw no tattoos anywhere from his fingertips up to the edge of the sleeve, which was only three inches from his shoulder. This is more hard evidence. I would say that three strikes and the liars are out. So, on this one, I will have to say that "Factopolis" is a liar.

By ebo, at May 12, 2008 2:23 PM
I've been reading as many "facts" on "Factropolis" as I can in my spare time. I see that "Factropolis" is supposed to have all these awards. If someone is supporting Factropolis and giving them awards, one should question the credibility of whoever is giving the awards. As a truthseeker and scientist, so far, I've found "Factropolis" to be more non-sense than informative. Millions of people trusting what they present is not responsible whatsoever. Our children read this junk and believe it, just because.. "hey dad, it has to be true. It was on Factropolis."
No wonder grade school kids are killing each other. They probably read on Factropolis something about selective breeding inproving the species and want to get an early start. I think the responsible thing to do is for Factropolis to shut down or get real and have a true professional investigate the things they present as facts.

By ebo, at May 12, 2008 3:58 PM
Could someone donate a cape to EBO, the ego superhero?

But I gotta say, I like a man with an opinion, that identifies himself...keep on keeping on.

Kahn

By Anonymous, at May 13, 2008 11:14 AM
Could someone donate a cape to EBO, the ego superhero?

But I gotta say, I like a man with an opinion, that identifies himself...keep on keeping on.

Kahn

By Anonymous, at May 13, 2008 11:14 AM
Awww Kahn, does it bother you when people don't like your little website?

By Fred, at May 18, 2008 2:06 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPGvfD1h25I

he has no tats on his arms... this site is ludacris

By Ray, at July 03, 2008 4:58 PM
$6.00 Welcome Survey After Free Registration!

By Anonymous, at July 25, 2008 6:23 AM
As someone trained to conduct FCI series workshops based of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, I c an attest that Mr. Rogers NEVER served in the military. He attended college in Pittsburgh, obtained a ministry degree and went on to obtain his Master's degree before heading off to Canada to work on a children's program which later became the US version of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.
If you would like the truth please go to the following website: http://www.fci.org/index.asp

By Anonymous, at October 31, 2008 11:45 AM
Assuming one was indeed himself Fred Rogers.. 1 1 would question himself and others.
1. This is really what I am.
2. If "He" Mr Rogers was truly service connected and later found a place in society as mentor to our children.

"He" may have asked himself or felt does my prior life hold me back from this new "vision" of a place in society. The answer is "we don't know" because in fact like prior comments, there is no Hard facts. It's possible Fred Rogers had is military or so called job characteristics "ex-sponged" He obviously had the financial means. The true answer lies in what we "Think" happened. Until a person whom identifies their connection to Fred Rogers and can verify Fred Rogers actions and means, we we never truly know the prior identity of Mr. Rogers. Although there is just something about that question still, with absolutely no Hard evidence on whom Mr. Rogers was, Then other than "Mr. Rogers Neighborhood" whom is Fred Rogers?? I guess that's just a mystery now. I will say this, If Fred Rogers indeed had something to hide then Mr. Rogers did all the right things.

By Anonymous, at November 04, 2008 1:56 PM
If any of you watch episodes of Mr. Roger's neighborhood, you will see he has the traits of a sniper. He never made any sudden or fast movements. Everything he did was slow and deliberate, just like a sniper would do to avoid detection.

By Anonymous, at November 16, 2008 7:47 PM
Ok Fred Rogers was a presbyterian minister....look it up
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Rogers

By Anonymous, at December 12, 2008 11:23 AM
See for yourselves!

By Zoe P. (SD, CA), at December 13, 2008 5:56 AM
See for yourselves!

By Zoe P (SD, CA), at December 13, 2008 5:57 AM
The Merchant Marines is not the military. It's not the same as the Marine Corps. In fact, I'm pretty sure there aren't any snipers in the merchant marine. You might as well say he was a Sniper for UPS. So my question is; what CAN brown do for you??

By PFC O'Dell, at January 29, 2009 5:44 PM
wrong yet again:

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Tattoo Urban Legend #2, the Mister Rogers tattoo story. Sometimes the ink is attributed to a stay in the military. Sometimes the military story comes with the elaboration that he was a sniper and each tattoo represented a kill. Nonetheless, there is a persistent rumor that Mister Rogers had seriously tattooed arms.

As cool as that might be, it is very much untrue. You will find the question posed here and there on message boards with all manner of answers, and the story certainly was revived by his passing in early 2003. However, all reports from friends and colleagues would indicate that 1) Mister Rogers was not a tattooed person and 2) his style of dress was chosen for a type of relaxed formality. Remember folks, this man was an ordained minister who worked with children: not exactly the tattooed type.

By Anonymous, at February 27, 2009 1:13 PM
common sense... have you ever seen a marine, seal, or other combatant that scrawny?

By Anonymous, at February 27, 2009 1:17 PM
I am stationed in parris island, SC im in DI school and there isnt any pictures of Fred rogers in any chow hall or even in the history museum that is on the base.

By Anonymous, at March 07, 2009 3:30 PM
I have worked at Blackwater Security, in the past with a few former SEALS that knew of 'Fred'. Let's just say that his neighborhood before his fame was in some of the hottest combat zones of the Viet Nam era.

By Anonymous, at April 17, 2009 2:17 PM
This post has been removed by the author.

By Darnell, at May 05, 2009 6:56 PM
Actually, Mr. Rogers was sent to Earth by Megatron to destroy Optomis Prime and all of the Autobots and to receive the Allspark. Mankind had no chance until he was brainwashed by PBS to host Mr. Roger's neighborhood! Megatron went to Earth to find him but the bitch got frozen. Ask yourself a question...do you think he's really dead??? I think not! ALL HAIL MR. ROGERS!!!

-An old friend

By Anonymous, at May 05, 2009 6:56 PM
Actually, Mr. Rogers was sent to Earth by Megatron to destroy Optomis Prime and all of the Autobots and to receive the Allspark. Mankind had no chance until he was brainwashed by PBS to host Mr. Roger's neighborhood! Megatron went to Earth to find him but the bitch got frozen. Ask yourself a question...do you think he's really dead??? I think not! ALL HAIL MR. ROGERS!!!

-An old friend

By Anonymous, at May 05, 2009 6:59 PM
Mr Rogers moved the way he did because he worked with small children. He spoke slowly and clearly because he worked with small children. He was a minister.
He was never in the military. He was a good man with a heart as big as Alaska.

By Anonymous, at June 05, 2009 6:49 PM
Check the November 1998 issue of Esquire mag. The reporter who interviewed Fred Rogers saw him in his swimsuit by the pool. No tattoos anywhere. Stop spreading rumors you cant back up with facts.

By Anonymous, at June 05, 2009 7:58 PM
Your all a bunch of nutters! Who cares at all what the bloody hell Mr. Bleepin' Rogers did in his spare time? Shot gooks? WHO CARES!?!?
HE's DEAD! Give it a rest...nutters.

By Justin, at June 09, 2009 9:25 PM
If you dont care what are you doing in this site?

By Anonymous, at June 10, 2009 2:21 PM
do you people seriously have nothing better to do with your time than create conspircies that in no way relate to or affect your life? Sad.

By Anonymous, at September 13, 2009 2:14 PM
listen there was no way that this urban legend could be true. Rogers graduated from Latrobe High School (1946). He studied at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, (1946–1948). He transferred to Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, where he received a BA in music composition in 1951. At Rollins, Rogers met Sara Joanne Byrd, an Oakland, Florida native. They married on June 9, 1952. They had two children, James (born in 1959) and John (born in 1961). Rogers moved to New York in 1951 and spent three years working in the production staff for music-centered programming such as NBC Opera Theater. He also worked on Gabby Hayes' show for children. In 1954, he began working at WQED, a Pittsburgh public television station, as a puppeteer on a local children's series, The Children's Corner. For the next SEVEN YEARS, he worked with host Josie Carey in unscripted live TV, developing many of the puppets, characters and music used in his later work, such as King Friday XIII, and Curious X the Owl. In 1963, Rogers graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and was ordained a minister in the Presbyterian Church , In 1963, Rogers moved to Toronto, where he was contracted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to develop a 15-minute children's television program Misterogers which would be his debut in front of the camera. The show was a hit with children, but lasted for only three seasons on the network. Many of his famous set pieces, such as Trolley, Eiffel Tower, the 'tree', and 'castle' were all created by designers at the CBC. In 1966, Rogers acquired the rights to his program from the CBC, and moved the show to WQED in Pittsburgh, where he had worked on The Children's Corner. He developed the new show for the Eastern Educational Network. Stations that carried the program were limited, but included educational stations in Boston, Washington, DC and New York City.

After returning to Pittsburgh, Rogers attended and participated in activities at the Sixth Presbyterian church in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, a More Light congregation which he attended until his death.

Distribution of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood began on February 19, 1968. The following year, the show moved to PBS (Public Broadcasting Service). In 1971, Rogers formed Family Communications, Inc. (FCI), and the company established offices in the WQED building in Pittsburgh. Initially, the company served solely as the production arm of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, but now develops and produces an array of children's programming and educational materials. Nam was 54-76 how in the hell could he have been there. And for that matter how could he have even been in the military.
Rogers was also red-green color blind (you cant be red-green color blind and a sniper.

By Anonymous, at January 23, 2010 7:48 PM
FACTROPOLOS SUCKS AND THESE ARE ALL FABRICATIONS.

By Anonymous, at February 05, 2010 12:04 PM
False rumors are what ruin a persons hard earned reputation! Integrity is actually important to some, although I've noticed it seems to be a lost virtue the older I get! It is so easily lost with the click of a button in a line of slander. If ever you would like to find out if what you "hear" is true or false, here is a reliable site to check your references! http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/mrrogers.asp

By Anonymous, at February 13, 2010 10:51 PM