Sergeant Presley our untold story of Elvis' missing years

295 Pages·2009·16.393 MB·English

by  Terrill, Zoe;Presley, Elvis;Mansfield, Rex;Mansfield, Elisabeth;Terrill, Marshall

SERGEANT
PRESLEY
Copyright © Rex and Elisabeth Mansfield and Marshall and Zoe Terrill 2002
Published by ECW PRESS
2120 Queen Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4E 1E2
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other-
wise — without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ECW PRESS.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Mansfield, Rex
Sergeant Presley: our untold story of Elvis' missing years / Rex and Elisabeth Mansfield
as told to Marshall and Zoe Terrill
ISBN 1-55022-545-6 (cloth) ISBN 1-55022-555-3 (paper)
1. Presley, Elvis, 1935-1977 — Career in the military. 2. Rock musicians — United States — Biography.
1. Mansfield, Elisabeth II. Terrill, Marshall III. Terrill, Zoe Iv. Title
ML420.P74M28 2O02 355'.0092 C2002-902173-1
Cover and Text Design: Tania Craan
Typesetting: Wiesia Kolasinska
Production: Mary Bowness
Printing: University of Toronto Press
This book is set in Columbus and Aachen
The publication of Sergeant Presley has been generously supported by
the Government of Canada through the
Book Publishing Industry Development Program. Canada1
DISTRIBUTION
CANADA: Stewart House, 195 Allstate Parkway, Markham, ON L3R 4T8
UNITED STATES: Independent Publishers Group, 814 North Franklin Street,
Chicago, Illinois 60610
EUROPE: Turnaround Publisher Services, Unit 3, Olympia Trading Estate,
Coburg Road, Wood Green, London N2Z 6T2
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND: Wakefield Press, 17 Rundle Street (Box 2066),
Kent Town, South Australia 5071
PRINTED AND BOUND IN CANADA
ECW PRESS
ecwpress.com
SERGEANT
PRESLEY
Our Untold Story of Elvis
Missing Years
Rex and Elisabeth Mansfield
with Marshall and Zoe Terrill
ECW Press
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Dedication
To Rex's mother, Bertice Roberts Mansfield, who went to be with
the Lord on April 29, 1966. She lived her life before us based on
the Biblical concept of Proverbs 22:6 — "Train up a child in the
way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Outside of Jesus Christ, "Mama Bertice" was the most influential
person for good in our lives, as well as others, that we have ever
known.
R&E
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX
INTRODUCTION
Rex & Elisabeth Mansfield I
CHAPTER ONE
Palmersville
3
CHAPTER TWO
Fort Chaffee, Arkansas - Being Processed 15
CHAPTER THREE
Fort Hood, Texas - Basic Training 21
CHAPTER FOUR
Graceland or Bust 35
CHAPTER FIVE
Advanced Basic
47
CHAPTER SIX
The Trek to Germany
57
CHAPTER SEVEN
Deutschland 677
CHAPTER EIGHT
Elisabeth's Story Elisabeth 79
CHAPTER NINE
Good Job in Bad Nauheim Elisabeth 93
CHAPTER TEN
A Home Away From Home Elisabeth 105

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Cars, Kicks, and Pills Rex 117

CHAPTER TWELVE
Domestic Bliss Rex 127
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Parlez-Vous FranCais? Rex
137
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Burning Love Elisabeth 151
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Suspicious Minds Rex 161
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
G.I. Blues Rex
I75
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Walking Papers Rex I8
7
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Goodbye Germany, Hello Graceland Elisabeth 199

CHAPTER NINETEEN
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles Rex 215
CHAPTER TWENTY
It's Now or Never Rex 225

EPILOGUE 237