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.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

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

33 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