Elvis Aron Presley entered the United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee, on March 24, 1958, and then spent three days at the Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, Reception Station. He left active duty at Fort Dix, New Jersey, on March 5, 1960, and received his discharge from the Army Reserve on March 23, 1964.
During his active military career Mr. Presley served as a member of two different armor battalions. Between March 28 and September 17, 1958, he belonged to Company A, 2d Medium Tank Battalion, 37th Armor, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. During this assignment he completed basic and advanced military training.
This video, filmed in October 1958, captures Presley arriving in the German city of Bremerhaven to begin his military service. The King of Rock and Roll was to serve as a truck driver in a tank unit.
Mr. Presley's overseas service took place in Germany from October 1, 1958, until March 2, 1960, as a member of the 1st Medium Tank Battalion, 32d Armor. For the first five days of that period he belonged to Company D of the battalion, and thereafter to the battalion's Headquarters Company at Friedberg.
Presley stayed in a hotel in nearby Bad Nauheim instead of living in the barracks. There, he lived with an entourage: his grandmother, father and two bodyguards.
While in Germany Mr. Presley wore the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 3d Armored Division.
14 year-old Priscilla was living in Wiesbaden. She moved here with her mother and stepfather - the US officer Joseph Beaulieu - and attended the “H. H. Arnold High School”, currently ¨Wiesbaden High School¨.
In order to distract her from her homesickness, a friend of her stepfather, who was then the manager of the Wiesbaden "Eagle Club", organized a visit to the "King of Rock'n'Roll" in Bad Nauheim - during which Elvis promptly fell in love with the young Priscilla.
1960: Wiesbaden High School Year´s Book. H.H. Arnold High school attended by Air Force kids. She was dating Elvis at the same time. Priscilla was voted as “Best Looking Senior”.
Elvis is said to have visited Wiesbaden again and again, walked through the spa gardens with Priscilla and carved her initials into a tree: “E+P in Love”. That was never proved as he was too famous to have meetings in public.
48 min (65,5 km) via A5 and A66
Elvis Presley returned to the USA just 17 months after his arrival in Friedberg. Priscilla, on the other hand, had to continue attending school in Wiesbaden. It wasn't until seven years later that the two married. The marriage became world famous, even if it didn't last long: it ended in divorce just seven years later.
An Elvis statue and a photo of Elvis in 1959 are shown side-by-side.The leaning Elvis Presley statue is going to be placed on a city bridge in Bad Nauheim, Germany, mimicking a photo from the time the King was living there in the late 1950s. (City of Bad Nauheim)
Two German fans of the King, Angela Storm and Meike Berger, raised more than $42,000 to pay for the statue, which was made based on a 3D rendering of the 1959 image of Presley on the bridge. The 440-pound statue has been cast by a foundry and was presented to the media in 2021.
Elvis-Presley-Festival in Bad Nauheim: "Das Beste im Jahr" (2