20th December 1957, Friday
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Private Presley
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Re: 20th December 1957, Friday
December 20, 1957
December 20th is a notable day in American History. In 1989, the United States invaded Panama, while just six years later, in 1995, the peace was brought to Bosnia by NATO agreements. December 20th also marks the beginning phases of the Civil War because it was on this date, in 1860, that South Carolina became the first official state to secede from the Union.
However one most notable December 20th occurred in 1957 when Uncle Sam came calling …. for Elvis Presley.. Elvis was at the height of his career at the time - he already had three successful movies behind him and in the midst of doing his fourth; along with a string of hits and sold out concerts. It was at this time - at the peak of his meteoric rise to stardom - that he received his draft notice for a two-year stint in the army. Fans sent tens of thousands of letters to the army asking for him to be spared, but Elvis would have none of it. He received one deferment–during which he finished working on his movie King Creole–before being sworn in as an army private in Memphis on March 24, 1958.
While he did worry that his fans might forget him, he took being a soldier seriously and performed his duties well enough to get promoted to sergeant by the time he was discharged two years after his enlistment.
On that fateful day in 1957, Elvis actually drove to pick up his draft papers himself and later that evening, he drove a rented truck for the 200 mile trip from Memphis to Nashville deliver a Christmas present, a red Isetta sports car, to his manager - Colonel Tom Parker - and to inform him that he has beed drafted. Colonel Parker, continued to release singles recorded before Elvis’ departure, keeping the money rolling in and his most famous client fresh in the public’s mind.
December 20th is a notable day in American History. In 1989, the United States invaded Panama, while just six years later, in 1995, the peace was brought to Bosnia by NATO agreements. December 20th also marks the beginning phases of the Civil War because it was on this date, in 1860, that South Carolina became the first official state to secede from the Union.
However one most notable December 20th occurred in 1957 when Uncle Sam came calling …. for Elvis Presley.. Elvis was at the height of his career at the time - he already had three successful movies behind him and in the midst of doing his fourth; along with a string of hits and sold out concerts. It was at this time - at the peak of his meteoric rise to stardom - that he received his draft notice for a two-year stint in the army. Fans sent tens of thousands of letters to the army asking for him to be spared, but Elvis would have none of it. He received one deferment–during which he finished working on his movie King Creole–before being sworn in as an army private in Memphis on March 24, 1958.
On that fateful day in 1957, Elvis actually drove to pick up his draft papers himself and later that evening, he drove a rented truck for the 200 mile trip from Memphis to Nashville deliver a Christmas present, a red Isetta sports car, to his manager - Colonel Tom Parker - and to inform him that he has beed drafted. Colonel Parker, continued to release singles recorded before Elvis’ departure, keeping the money rolling in and his most famous client fresh in the public’s mind.
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