THE DAY ELVIS INVADED GERMANY
By Rosa García Mora
Elvis set foot on German soil for the first time as a soldier in the United States Army on October 1, 1958, after completing basic training at Fort Hood, Texas.
He had departed on the ship General Randall, which left the Brooklyn Army Terminal in New York on September 22, 1958 and arrived at Columbus Quay, in Bremerhaven, with his division, on Wednesday, October 1, 1958 with Elvis and more of 1000 American soldiers.Elvis was greeted by a crowd of enthusiastic fans, who shouted for their idol and waved. It was impressive to see how the police were overwhelmed by the avalanche of young fans. A huge array of press and photographers were also waiting to welcome him.
There a train was waiting for them to leave Bremerhaven. That train would take him to his new unit in the US 32nd Tank Regiment in Friedberg, where he was to spend the next 18 months, at Ray Barracks.
The day Elvis arrived in Bremerhaven, when he was getting off the ship and crossing the gangplank, with his duffel bag on his shoulder, there was a curious anecdote. A 16-year-old fan, Helge Rotenberg, managed to jump over all the police barriers and climb up the ship’s gangplank, to get an autograph from Elvis! When he managed to avoid the German police and the American military police and reached Elvis, he managed to make Elvis smilingly take the paper and the pen, with such bad luck that Elvis only had his left hand free and could not hold the pen, which fell to the ground. floor… with which Helge could not get his autograph. After his feat, bad luck meant that the young man could not carry out his dream of having an autograph from Elvis, although he did manage, at least, to reach his idol.
Photographers immortalized this moment.
Article written and provided by Rosa García Mora https://www.facebook.com/rosa.garciamora.12
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