March 24, 1958

Elvis Presley arrived at Fort Chaffee on a chartered bus from Tennessee with twenty-one other men to be inducted into the U.S. Army. He endured two days of army tests and processing (including the regulation haircut) with a polite and genial attitude. The entertainer, who made a million dollars a year, was also given the usual advance on his first month’s army pay: $7.00. Fan mail and telegrams poured into Fort Chaffee, including a telegram from the governor of Tennessee. Presley then went on to basic training in Fort Hood, Texas.