I’ve just finished reading Rex and Elisabeth Mansfields book “Sergeant Presley Our Untold Story of Elvis’ Missing Years“.
My wife Linda and I were invited to Elisabeths’ surprise birthday party. Forty guest were present, Rex with the help of his sister-in law Linda McCormick successfully arranged the surprise. We had a great time. As it turned out I found out a lot of things I was not aware of. Rex and Elisabeth met through Elvis. Rex and Elvis became close friends immediately, as they were sworn into the Army together.
If you are, or ever were an Elvis fan, this is a must read book. I’m honored to be able to write this article about Elvis, Rex and Elisabeth, as I was a big fan of Elvis. God has a way of giving us special things when we are obedient to him. A good day of fishing, special time with a love one, or for me a chance to write about special friends like the Mansfield’s. My teen years were spent listening and dancing to the music of Elvis Presley, Pat Boone and many others. Elvis and Pat Boone were rivals in the music business. Elvis and Pat were the best in my
book. My three best friend’s (Short, Betty and Butch McCoy) and I spent a lot of Friday and Saturday nights at Miller Park Pavilion in Bloomington, Illinois. This is where dances were held for teenagers. Those were special years in my life I treasure, Our friendship has lasted trough the years. My brother Bill once arrived in Hawaii in full uniform and when he got off the plane he was swarmed by women who thought he was Elvis. He could have been a twin to Elvis in his younger days. I’m getting into another story I will write later.
This story of Rex, Elisabeth and Elvis will peek your interest. I’m going to give you a few highlights of the book. This story tells you of an Elvis never told before. A story of Elvis’ private life in the service.
Elvis Presley's army years are often considered the "lost years" because so little is known about them. Elvis' fellow soldier and friend, Rex Mansfield, along with his wife, Elisabeth-with whom Elvis was once romantically linked-reveal a fascinating portrait of young Elvis the soldier. Tales of Elvis and Rex's induction in Memphis, basic training in Texas, and travels to Germany and stories of Elvis' addiction to prescription drugs, his initial meeting with Priscilla Beaulieu, and his daily life in the service.
I’ve had two brothers (Robert and Bill Hodge) and three brother-in-laws (Mike, Doug and Phillip Newsome) in the service and I have gotten about the same thing from all of them and it is no different with Elvis’ comment on the army food. Every GI has complained about it. For example, a typical breakfast meal consist of corned beef hash on toast or some unidentifiable meat mixed with gravy and poured over toast. Lunch and dinner was no better. Elvis’ favorite foods included burnt bacon, fried eggs, Hormel Chili with beans, canned peaches, wieners, butter and jelly on toasted white bread and peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Peanut Butter and bananas were mashed and mixed together, spread on white bread and toasted in a frying pan. Rex stated “in the two years I spent with Elvis I never once saw him eat steak”. Elvis had no desire for gourmet foods. He could eat the same food day after day. While in Germany Elvis’ grandmother lived with them and prepared all of his meals.
Elvis had a group of close friends that he ran around with and did things with. He trusted his privacy to these friends. Rex stated in the book that it was good to be completely on the inside but in order to stay on the inside you had to instinctively know when to keep your mouth shut to outsiders. “I learned an invaluable lesson from a guy named Donald Pettit: Never write or tell any story about Elvis to the press. Pettit was a fairly good friend going back to Fort Hood. He and Elvis were in the same barracks during basic training and Pettit was included on some of our weekend trips. But then Pettit wrote a story after we got to Germany entitled “Elvis In The Army” which was published by “Ideal Magazine“. The article bragged about how tight Pettit and Elvis had become since entering the Army. There were photographs of him and Elvis wearing squad leader arm bands on their sleeves and pictures of Pettit’s family. I’m sure Pettit was paid a nice fee for his participation in this article. but he certainly paid a bigger price later on. After the article came out, Pettit was completely shunned by Elvis and was never allowed to be part of the inside group again. He was dropped like a hot potato and the fun and games carried on without him.
Rex Mansfield was the only man to ever take a girl away from Elvis Presley during his reign as the King of Rock and Roll. Mansfield was drafted into the army with Presley in 1958 and became one of his closest friends throughout those years, that is, until he fell in love with Elisabeth Stefaniak.
Stefaniak, a 19-year-old German girl who was infatuated with Elvis, met him at a movie theater one night, fell in love and began dating each other. Soon, she became Elvis' personal secretary, lived in his house and was primed to become his secretary at Graceland.
However, along the way, Rex and Elisabeth fell in love and she was torn between Rex, a common solider and Elvis Presley, the world's number-one superstar.
The book, "Sergeant Presley: Our Untold Story of Elvis' Missing Years," is a lively account of their years with the King (1958-1960) with chapters written by both Rex and Elisabeth Mansfield.
Elisabeth was born in Bamberg, Germany. After her parents divorced, her mother married a GI, a sergeant named Raymond L. McCormick. Elisabeth lived in the States for a while, but returned to Germany when her stepfather was assigned to Grafenwöhr.
Like almost all teenage girls at the time, she was a fan of Elvis Presley. When Presley’s unit, based at Friedberg, Germany, trained at Grafenwöhr, she made plans to meet him. She heard he was watching a movie at the bases Tower Theater but when she went there she couldn’t pick him out of the crowd. She did eventually manage to find Presley, who invited her to watch the movie with him. In the book, she wrote, “I thought he was the most handsome, most beautiful hunk of man I had ever seen.”
Only when back in America - at Graceland, Presley’s Memphis home - that Mansfield was able to tell Presley of his love for Elisabeth. By this time, Presley was in love with a girl barely in her teenage years, the girl who would become his wife, Priscilla.
Elisabeth and Rex Mansfield have been married now for 42 years. They live quietly in east Tennessee.
Mansfield admitted he was quite jealous of Presley even after he and Elisabeth married. He hated for his wife to see Presley on television or hear one of his songs on the radio. And, he said, he is sure his wife needed about five years to completely get over Presley.
They had no contact with Presley after cutting their ties in 1960. Mansfield has had a successful career in business. The couple adopted a son in 1966.
Looking back now at the type of life Presley lived - the drugs and the hard living that led to an early death - they have no regrets about their parting. “God fixed it so Elisabeth and I got married and got away from that life,” Mansfield said. How do Elizabeth and Rex feel about Elvis today? They think he was the greatest entertainer the world has ever known. Given Elvis’ divine musical talent, it is no wonder that his popularity is ever-growing. Hearing an Elvis song reminds them of the talented man they once knew and how thankful they are to him for bringing them together. They are especially fond of his gospel recordings. Their favorite ones are: “You’ll Never Walk alone,” and “I Believe,” “Where No One Stands Alone,” “Precious Lord,” “Without Him,” and “He Touched me.” Rex recalls Elvis singing them at the house in Germany and many times Rex joined in.
Rex and Elisabeth are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. Rex recorded a couple of song’s in the studio in Nashville where Elvis recorded his music. Rex’s music is on a 33 album. I plan to transfer it to a CD for him.
