On January the 8th I turned eighteen and, like all law
abiding teens of 1973, registered for the draft. But I got
lucky, the draft ended that spring and I was never forced
into the military. I later got to pick when I wanted to go
and what branch of service I wanted to be in.
There was another young man who had to register for the
draft after he turned eighteen on January the 8th, but this
was in 1953. The draft was going strong and the Korean War
was still in the news. Elvis Presley was not a recording
star that January day the Selective Service gave him a
number and then sent him back to high school, so he got to
sweat out being called up by the draft just like other males
in the US did.
His call to service did not come right out of high school
and Elvis got on with his civilian life which meant in his
case he became a rock-n-roll superstar of the late 1950s. By
1956 he was an internationally known recording artist, had
made a movie and was on the road performing concerts across
the nation. On January 8, 1957 which was Elvis's
twenty-second birthday, the Memphis Draft Board held a press
conference in reference to the draft status of Elvis Aaron
Presley. He was advised he was now classified 1A and should
prepare himself to be inducted into the Army that calendar
year.
Not many men get a nationally broadcasted press
conference when he is being told to come join the ranks of
the US Army, but most young males did not have a manager
named “Colonel” Tom Parker who was a shameless promoter of
Elvis. The Navy and Air Force both made Elvis offers to
enlist in their branch of the service before the Army draft
got him. He turned them down. I would suggest that the real
reason he turned down the Navy and Air Force was they had
four year enlistments and the Army could only draft him for
two years.
Elvis was extremely worried that his music career was
headed for ruin. He was going to be out of the recording and
performing spotlight for two years and Elvis truly believed
he would be forgotten. “Colonel” Parker was not worried. He
knew there was enough recorded material that Elvis had
already finished. With this, Parker could, in a timely
manner, feed it out to the public and keep new songs on the
record charts all during Elvis' time in the Army.
When Elvis was finally called up on 20 December 1957, he
was just about to start filming the movie “King Creole”. He
asked for and received a deferment until March of 1958 so he
could finish the movie. On 24 March 1958 Elvis reported to
the Memphis Draft Board. He was sent to Fort Chaffee,
Arkansas for processing and got his first G.I. haircut. Of
course “Colonel” Parker had arranged for the press to film
everything that happened during Elvis's induction into the
Army. During the haircut Elvis coined the phrase “Hair
today, gone tomorrow.”
Elvis was offered a chance to go in to the Special
Services Branch of the Army. He could have spent his two
years performing for the troops and this would have kept him
out of regular Army training and Army life. He could have
even skipped basic training. Again “Colonel” Parker said no.
Elvis as a regular ground pounding Army troop was worth more
publicity than Elvis the special soldier who got “taken care
of” by the powers to be of the Army.
By the way “Colonel” Parker was never a real colonel in
the military. He was born in the Netherlands. It is alleged
he was in the US illegally and this was the main reason he
never went to Germany while Elvis was posted there.
Elvis went to basic training and armor school (tanks)
then shipped out to Germany for the remaining eighteen
months of his service hitch. When Elvis entered the Army his
pay went from $400,000 to $78 a month. Elvis was discharged
from the Army on March 5, 11200, with his final check from
the service for $109.54.
In 11200 he starred in the movie “G.I. Blues.” The film
was about a young Army soldier stationed in Germany. Elvis
made a number of movies over the years with a military
theme. He never forgot he was a veteran and if you go to
Graceland you will see his military memorabilia on display.
Happy Birthday old veteran – no G.I. blues here. | 
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