Wendell Lee Bradford from Clinton Arkansas found himself drafted into the Army in 1958. He served his two years to 1960 in the 2nd Armored Division in Germany as a tank driver.
When Wendell left his hometown to meet the other draftees in Little Rock, he found himself in interesting company. Elvis Presley had been drafted at the same time. Coming from Memphis, he was about an hour or so behind Wendell.
“Our bus had to stop at each town to drop off mail and there were girls lined up at each stop, trying to get a look at Elvis. We told them he was on the back of our bus so they would come on board.”
As they made their way to Fort Chaffee for the night, Wendell said he remembers seeing the flash of the photographer’s cameras as Elvis’ bus arrived. The next morning, Elvis was downstairs, handing out autographed pictures to everyone, Wendell received one as well.
Later that day, they all received their haircuts and clothes and as they left, Wendell found himself in line with Elvis. It wasn’t until later, he discovered he had made the pages of Movie Life Magazine.
Wendell Lee Bradford, far left
Training
The group then left from Fort Chaffee to Fort Hood in Texas for training. After six weeks, the men were allowed to have a car on base. Wendell’s parents drove his ’54 Mercury up so he would have transportation.
After another six weeks, the men were given a three day pass before being shipped out to Germany. Their only rules were they weren’t allowed to drive more than 150 miles from base.
“Well, I wanted to drive the car back and a guy from Little Rock wanted to go home too. We figured no one would know, so we headed out. Another man from Memphis was going home and said he would pick us up in Little Rock on his way back.”
Wendell got a call the day they were set to leave, his friend from Little Rock said the other guy had already been through and missed them. So, Wendell and his Little Rock friend jumped a bus and rode it all the way back to Texas. Their pass ended at midnight and they arrived at 8 the next morning, AWOL.
“Back then, during wartime, if you were AWOL, it was considered treason and you could be shot. But since nothing was really going on and we already had our orders to go to Germany, they decided to take it easy on us.”
For one long month, the two men stayed behind and were on KP duty and guard duty. They were able to receive their honorable discharges at the end of their service, but didn’t receive their Good Conduct Medal.
Learn more about Wendell and his service to our country on Wednesday as the piece concludes!
