"Elvis Revisited by a fan"

    

August 7 will be the 36^th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley and there will be many fans make the trip to his Memphis Graceland to pay their respect.  Many of them were not even born when he died but his music lives on.

     Like most young men of the time I resented the attention he received from the young ladies while loving his music.  Anyway that was true until I was drafted through Memphis induction center and sent to Ft. Hood for basic training.  I was assigned to the same company that Elvis was sent to in the 2^nd Armored Div.

      I was 3 years behind him but the memory and adoration of him by the men and NCO`s who trained him were still fresh and they let us know.  Normally a celebrity would be resented by them but not him.

He could have gone to the Navy, Marines, Air Force or even the Army and spent his time in Special Services as an entertainer but it was his request to be treated like any other GI in a regular unit.  All the branches wanted him for his popularity.

     At the time pizza parlors were popping up all over the country and each town outside a military base had restaurants willing to deliver 24/7 at no extra charge.  If he ordered pizza he ordered it for the whole company and not just him and his friends.

     It was pretty common in Army units to have inspection on Saturday morning and if the whole barracks passed inspection they got the rest of the week end off.  Each soldier had to have on one pair of boots and have the second pair on the floor by his bunk and both better have a high shine.  Elvis bought an extra pair of boots, already shined and just for inspection, for each man in the company.

     It seems when he went on pass or leave they had to send MPs with him for protection.  They told of one example of him taking care of business.  They went into town on pass and when they got out of the taxi he was gone.  He was spotted running to help a GI who was being beaten by three or four civilians.  By the time they got to him the fight was over.  That Judo master, former truck driver, had single handed whipped them all.

      He had a juke put in the dining hall and the company kept up the music.  No cost to play.  It was still in the mess Ft. Hood when I was there.

     Another thing that impressed me was when he was assigned to mow the company’s portion of the parade ground.  Now these were old reel push mowers without power.  He got a friend to go to town and have a new power mower delivered to each of the four companies.  I am surprised the Army allowed this one.

     Needless to say I was a fan after that experience.  It takes a good man to impress all those old lifers.

     I hear that when he got back to Memphis he had to rent a bowling alley after midnight so he could have some peace to bowl which he loved. He had the same problem for dining.  He was anything but private but he had to go to extreme to get some quiet fun.  I believe the adoration of his fans was what killed him by forcing him to go to narcotics to escape his fans.  They would swarm everywhere he went and if not restrained they literally tore his clothes off of him.

     A Right Hand Salute from a reluctant fan Elvis.  You were a man’s man and a soldier`s soldier.