Elvis and Vietnam war

[rjm]

Doc! You know thaat badge stuff was all a hustle. I think most pople do now. Plus Finlator really was out to hurt him because he knew he was being hustled. The mistimed inclusion of Fonda proves this.
I do not know your age but 35 is not necessarily mature especially if you have a drug problem and the govt. just changed the laws. In October after JimiJanis hppened the implemented scheduling of drugs.
Elvis was uh highstrung.
Sorry for spelling.

[rjm]

I believe Sandi is sincere in what she recalls about Elvis talking about "communists" "taking over" but in context, she also said one often couldn't be sure if he was being sarcastic or funny in his dry sense of humor. I will mention an important film that he loved shortly. And she said he went through different moods and we know that from late 70 to the early part of the next year he was on that mission of hs to get that badge with the special wording.
Major MOOD.
When you combine this with his Dr. Strangelove thing, I think it should be more clear. She herself is quite sure he was against the war but he would talk a lot anout the communist thing. Imagine his tone of voice and think about it.

Key to this for our purposes is the phrase in the memo about answering in the hereafter for one's deeds on earth. This is snagged whole from Dr. Stranglelove! Jack D. Ripper the crazy general said it before killing himself! Then the Brit CALLS THE PRESIDENT to save us all from his madness. Elvis thus KNEW that *fear* of this commie takeover was madness and deadly.
In the White House he yelled "No fighting in th War Room!"
The film was on his mind. I wonder if Sandi recalls ow much that film meant to him.
He did have a brotherinlaw In Country. So he was worried but the Fonda thing is mistimed in that memo. So some of it was deliberately used by Finlator to the Wash. Post to harm him.
Elvis the person deliberately avoided being nailed down.
But the ARTIST made it plain. Fghiting in VIETNAM was just too much monkey business for him to be involved in.
Oh and in 71 he showed his support for Ali when it was still a major issue. Sandi took the photos to prove it!
It all goes back though to Lt. Taylor.
And even Dylan never said "Vietnam" in song much less said no to it.

[TJ]

...the Fonda thing is mistimed in that memo.

How so? The infamous photograph wasn't taken yet, but she was already very active in her opposition to the war and had made some statements that I'm sure wouldn't have impressed Elvis.

[drjohncarpenter]

Get the book bt Lt. William Taylor. Elvis & Army is the simpe title. So simple I hope it is correct. Amazon Canada still had some.
Ok. Elvis was against invovlevement in "Indochina" even before the Gulf of Tonkin thing.
"Most people I know don't want ant more of those Korean type hings. People rninning all over the world so some politician can act tough." He said this to a pro-involvement person. Taylor thought he was very prophtic for such a person with as he saw it little education. The guy looked down on his background but respected him.
Everyone here should get ahold of this vital yet unpretentious book.
You got it right doc!

Thanks!

[Alexander]

elvis' opinion about the Vietnam war isn t clear despite he shook hands with Nixon. Given he never said anything publicly of this war ...

Yes, he did. Elvis made his opinion on Vietnam very clear in 1968:

Been to Vietnam
Been a fightin' in the war
Army bar, army chow, army clothes, army car

Uh-uh!

Too much monkey business
Too much monkey business
Too much monkey business for me to be involved in
Uh-huh-huh

Elvis also mentioned the Vietcong during an outtake of Easy Come Easy Go... Do not have the context at hand at the moment... He made fun of them, right?

[rjm]

1. The engineer called "DOVC Take {number}." Elvis replied: Duh Viet Cong.
And laughed at the weird sound of the take identification. I cannot imagine it meant anything one way or the other. Gosh. Can we allow the guy some "thought doodling" and notalways analyze EVERYTHING including an odd bit of word play? On the other hand, the song lyric at that time was deliberate. And would have been risky but he was in a record slump. You cannot release a film like Speedway and expect people to know that YOU hated having to do it so therefore they should take your "real" records seriously or even buy 'em. . Steve Binder woke him up as to that point.
2. In August 70 he told the audience "the Vietnamese army is in the balcony." Strange noises followed from the crowd. They fell for it and Elvis was amused to say the least. "Hey. I just work here. You hear rumors."
It was a wicked yet pointed practical joke.
Hell it was copped from B. Kennedy's "When they reach the Rockies I'll get worried."
Everyone thinks Elvis was too "innocent" or whatever to be a little cunning.
His wit was often slashing and as Sandi said you just never knew: especially if you didn't want him using it on you.
See . . . his friends were often "victimized" by his sarcasm and he could be rough with it.
In 72 Col Parker almost choked while "coughing" when signaling Elvis not to respond!
Everything would have been said as a "joke" which must have terrified the old {expletive deleted}.
Peace. Outtie. On this topic.

[Joe Car]

Get the book bt Lt. William Taylor. Elvis & Army is the simpe title. So simple I hope it is correct. Amazon Canada still had some.
Ok. Elvis was against invovlevement in "Indochina" even before the Gulf of Tonkin thing.
"Most people I know don't want ant more of those Korean type hings. People rninning all over the world so some politician can act tough." He said this to a pro-involvement person. Taylor thought he was very prophtic for such a person with as he saw it little education. The guy looked down on his background but respected him.
Everyone here should get ahold of this vital yet unpretentious book.
You got it right doc!

Thanks!

In Doc I trust!

[fg76]

I would only assume based on the information that I have studied about Elvis, that I think he was very much a moderate. I think from a feeling I get from the man, which we know isn't fact, that he would have had a mixed range of views. His quick comment from TTWIS: SE about "losing a guy" (band member?) because he had a kid out of wedlock makes me feel Elvis was very moderate person.

That being said, Elvis' opinions changed a lot from day to day, but I would have a feeling that he wouldn't have liked Vietnam. A lot of the supporters didn't like it either, but then again that might be hindsight talking.

Since I'm not an expert, I will only say that Dr. John does make a very interesting point, but at the same time I really thought Elvis was talking more about his time in the army, than the actual war and just updating a lyric - but it's possible. I'm not Elvis Presley, and any statement I have made - I will respectfully admit is pure conjecture and only an opinion as to being a Southerner and having a mixture of a Moderate political view.

Fact: We do know, according to Linda Thompson and Larry King, that Elvis enjoyed MLK Jr. speeches.

Fact: We do know, according the MSG PC, that Elvis rather kept his personal opinions to himself.

Fact: We do know in Jan 1971, he did say after a false start of Snowbird, "God Bless America, and some parts of China." (However, it's a opinion if that could have been either a joke, or support for Hong Kong - who knows?)

I really haven't added much real info the the matter, but I enjoyed playing. Bye now!

[rjm]

Tne Snowbird quote is WHOLE diff thread! I will not even try. That is probably the strangest most inscratable btween-take remark I have ever heard. Elvis included. {grin}
Be intriguing to fully explore Elvis and spirituality which, jokes aside, is probably where all this leads.
If there is a thread already lemme know.
Thanks, folks. And sorry about my racing fingers on the Lt. Taylor quote. Get the book anyway. It reveals a less joke-ridden Elvis. You see the motherless child in raw form. But he also had the guts to pop off this comment and Taylor thought about it later during Vietnam. Didn't quite agree but he better understood the world outside his own.
If only Elvis could have known how to live "moderately." He might be having a guitar pull with Kris Kristofferson as we speak. Or whomever.
{Jesus gave his life} "so there'd be peace and love love for all. And we must hear our brother's call." Elvis recorded "Let Us Pray" 2 or 3 times in 69.
I have to admit I concur. Just wish Elvis himself had known more peace and love in his own life.
Peace.

[rjm]

inscrutable.
Sorry.