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Sunday, August 26, 2007

A G.I. Blues kind of weekend

Sometimes Elvis or something related to him pops up when you least of all expect it. I mean, hearing an Elvis song on the radio isn't that big a surprise, reading about him on the internet is a daily occurrence and receiving a new Elvis record in the mail is a pleasant but not all that uncommon event nowadays because of the tempo that BMG, FTD and the bootleggers keep up.

But this weekend, when I visited an army surplus store on the countryside together with my parents and my brother who was hunting for some baggy pants with many pockets, I wasn't counting on anything Elvis-like. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

Because at the cash-counter, in a box, were some American military patches that servicemen wear on their uniforms. And one of them was a yellow, blue and red patch with a lightning bolt, a big number "3" and the text "Spearhead" that I immediately recognized.

This patch is just like the one Elvis wore on his uniform, I explained to the lady at the counter. She didn't look too impressed, and obviously didn't understand what I was talking about.

Anyway, I bought it for almost nothing, and at home verified my find. Yes, he wore it on his left sleeve, on his tour in Germany with the Third Armored "Spearhead" Division. And after getting out of the army he wore it again on his uniform in the movie "G.I Blues".

Speaking of Elvis G.I Blues uniform, there was an interesting story about it earlier this year. Check it out, it's pretty amazing.

So there you are. Elvis really is everywhere, even when you don't expect him to, and that never ceases to amaze me.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it made for a good story. To bad I didn't find any baggy pants in my size! :-)