When Elvis Was in the Building

50 years ago, the King of Rock returned from his hitch in the army, via New Jersey.

Posted February 9, 2010 by Tom Wilk

Returning from Germany after two years in the Army, Sergeant Elvis Aron Presley landed at Fort Dix on his way back to civilian life. At his news conference at the base, he was greeted by adoring fans, including Barbara Ann Murray, 18, of Roselle Park, who sought and received an autograph as well as a more personal imprint.

Photo by Bettmann/Corbis.

At his first public appearance in New Jersey, Elvis Presley didn’t shake his hips or sing a single note. Still, he gave a captivating performance.

The occasion was a press conference at Fort Dix on March 3, 1960, the day the King of Rock ’n’ Roll made his dramatic return to the United States after a seventeen-month assignment in Europe as a member of the U.S. Army. Earlier in the day, a winter storm that would dump nearly eight inches of snow on Burlington County created some tense moments aboard the military transport plane, leaving Presley and his fellow passengers feeling all shook up as the aircraft prepared to touch down at McGuire Air Force Base.

“Our flight to McGuire was uneventful until the plane came in for a landing,” recalled Rex Mansfield, an Army buddy of Presley’s. “The snow was falling, so we could not see the runway until just before the plane landed.

“The pilot came down off center on the runway and had to quickly go hard left,” Mansfield wrote in his book, Sergeant Presley. “The plane swerved and the left wing nearly touched the runway. Our pilot managed to get things under control and bring us to a stop.”

Presley, who had turned 25 two months earlier, made no mention of the landing at his press conference, which was attended by journalists from about 200 newspapers, radio, and television stations. The presence of actress Tina Louise and singer Nancy Sinatra, a Jersey City native, gave the gathering a touch of Hollywood.

Sinatra, daughter of Frank Sinatra, presented Presley with a gift of two ruffled tuxedo shirts to promote her father’s upcoming television special that would feature the rocker.

Presley was in a playful mood as he answered questions and looked forward to resuming his music and film career.

“Now that you’re about to be discharged from the Army,” one reporter asked, “have two years of sobering Army life changed your mind about rock and roll?”

“Sobering Army life?” Presley replied with a chuckle. “It hasn’t changed my mind because I was in tanks for a long time, and they rock ’n’ roll quite a bit.”

“Elvis, you have some screaming fans out there,” another questioner noted. “Do you still like screaming girls?”

“If it wasn’t for them, I’d have to re-up in the Army, sir, I’ll tell you.”

One of those fans, Barbara Ann Murray of Roselle Park, showed up at the press conference in search of an autograph. Murray, then 18, not only got Presley’s autograph, she also got a seat on his lap and a kiss on the cheek.

After the press conference, Presley went through the normal procedures for his discharge. On March 5, he collected his mustering-out check of $109.54 and was officially a civilian again. He left Fort Dix in a limousine for Trenton, where he would board a train that day for his return to Graceland, his Memphis home.

Presley had departed the States for Germany as the first rock superstar, with ten number-one singles in just two years. Upon touching down in New Jersey, he had no idea what the future would hold.

“If my life ever gets normal,” said the once and future King, “I’ll have to start drivin’ a truck again.”

Tom Wilk is an author and frequent contributor. He lives in Pitman.

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