Born on January 8 1935, Elvis Aron Presley came from very humble beginnings and grew up to become
one of the biggest names in rock 'n' roll and by the mid-1950s, he appeared on the radio,
television and the silver screen. He is regarded as one of the most significant
cultural icons of the 20th century and is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll".
Elvis was enjoying his success and by the end of 1957, he already had many hit singles
like “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock,” 3 successful films
and concert dates that took him from Canada to Hawaii.
Sitting at the pinnacle of fame, the following year was sure to be even more fruitful.
However, on Dec 16, 1957, the Memphis Draft Board announced
that Presley would soon receive his draft notice for the U.S. Army.
Dodging his civic duty was never even a consideration for the Tupelo,
Mississippi-born singer. In fact, just 11 days after his 18th birthday,
he had fulfilled his patriotic responsibility and filed his draft card on January 19, 1953.
He subsequently went for a pre-induction physical on January 4, 1957, to determine his status.
Despite his status as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Presley gladly put aside that crown
and dutifully marched to pick up his induction notice on December 20, 1957.
While Presley was eager to start his time in the army,
he also had to first think of his professional obligations.
On December 24, 1957, he asked for a deferral so that he could finish filming King Creole.
On boxing day that year, he was granted the deferral giving him an army induction
date of March 24th, 1958, as opposed to the original date of January 20th.
Besides finishing King Creole (his favorite of
the 31 movies he made) he also recorded several more songs.
By March 14, he was back in his hometown of Memphis to spend some time with his family
and friends before his duties began.
Bright and early, at 6:35 a.m. on March 24, 1958, Presley put on a blue shirt,
black trousers, a gray jacket and black boots and reported to the draft board office
at the M&M Building on 198 South Main in Memphis with quite an entourage:
His parents, girlfriend Anita Wood, cousin Patsy Presley
and friend Judy Spreckels. Hopping on a bus with 12 fellow recruits, Presley officially
became known as serial number 53310761, registering at Kennedy Veterans Hospital.
Presley’s parents waited outside to say a
final goodbye before he headed off to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.
The attention stayed on the young recruit in Arkansas, and
even though he was only in the state a few days, he received 5,000 fan letters.
Soon, Presley was sent off to his assigned station in the Second Armored Division,
once known as of General George Patton's “Hell on Wheels” group, in Fort Hood,
Killeen, Texas, where he was stationed for six months and went through basic training.
During his first leave in June 1958, he headed back into the recording studio in Memphis — one
of the songs he worked on then was “A Big Hunk O' Love.” The following month, while
he was in the service, King Creole opened to rave reviews. But in August 1958, his mother, Gladys,
fell ill. Presley was given emergency leave and took the train back to Memphis on August 12.
She died on August 14. The loss was difficult for Presley. Trying to pick up the pieces, he
had to go back to Fort Hood on August 24 and the following month, he was shipped off to Germany.
Stationed in Friedberg, Germany, Presley said in a post-service conference
that his time after basic service was challenging:
“I was in a strange land and the outfit I was in, we had quite a bit of field duty.
Compared to his life as an idol back in the United States, this was a 180-degree turn.
But his time wasn’t exactly like everyone else’s. He could afford to bring his father
and grandmother to live nearby — and he made a film G.I. Blues during his time in Germany.
One thing that definitely eased his time there was meeting his future wife Priscilla Beaulieu.
He alluded to her during the press conference, although the media didn’t press him for much more.
Instead, the press asked him if there was a spark between him and Nancy Sinatra,
who he had just met briefly at Fort Dix in New Jersey. He laughed it off.
After leaving Germany in 1960, Presley now a sergeant was honorably discharged
from Fort Dix on March 5, 1960, and took the train back to Tennessee.
While he remained in the reserves for four years, technically in Memphis, he was able to use a
clause that accounts for people with “traveling jobs” so that he could be on standby anywhere.
Reflecting on his time in the service, Presley kept it real.
“I was in a funny position,” he told Armed Forces Radio and Television.
“Actually, that's the only way it could be. People were expecting me to mess up, to goof
up in one way or another. They thought I couldn't take it and so forth, and I was determined to go
to any limits to prove otherwise, not only to the people who were wondering, but to myself.”
Despite his untimely demise on 16 Aug 1977, at age 42,
Elvis Presley’s legacy has continued to live on,
and he continues to influence music and pop culture today.
In 2002, a remix of the song “A Little Less Conversation”
was released by JXL, a Dutch musician.
The song was featured in the Nike World Cup ad in 2002 and became a posthumous #1 hit for Elvis.
Compilations and albums of Presley’s music continue to be released even today.
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