Above 2 min. video has shots of Elvis in Germany to the song G.I. Blues.
During his two-year military duty in Germany, Elvis was in Jeep at night with his sergeant. They were scouting areas in the hills for security. It was a freezing night as Elvis pulled over so the two of them could sleep a little. Elvis kept the engine running. There was only a tarp on top of the jeep to keep out the icy wind.
Elvis and his sergeant pulled ponchos over their heads to further protect them from the cold. While sleeping, the fumes from the engine got into their ponchos making both men unconscious.
Elvis told Army buddy, Charlie Hodges: “The next thing I knew the wind blew one corner of my poncho away from my face. The fresh air woke me up some … I was too weak and too sick to even move my hands. So I just tried to tilt myself over and fall out of the Jeep. I fell face down in the snow and was sick all over the place.”
If Elvis hadn’t awakened, the two would have most likely died from carbon-monoxide poisoning.
Another Army friend, and soon to be Elvis’ road manager, Joe Esposito, said: “While Elvis and the sergeant were lying there unconscious, a really strong wind blew the tarp off the Jeep. That’s what saved their lives. Talk about divine intervention.”
After being jolted awake, Elvis stood and looked at his sergeant.
Elvis said: “He was sitting there stiff with his head down. He looked dead. I nudged him and he fell out of the Jeep into the snow. I helped him to his feet as he slowly regained consciousness.”
Another time in Germany, Elvis took a leisurely drive with his father Vernon at the wheel of their new Mercedes. Elvis was in the passenger seat with friend/bodyguard Red West in the back.
A photographer in a car pulled up next to them. Vernon sped up and as they approached a train crossing with the heavy metal gate coming down, Vernon raced under it.
The other car was blocked by the gate. However, the gate on the other side of the track came down quickly trapping the Mercedes on the track with an upcoming, speeding train.
Vernon had to do some quick maneuvering to get the car parallel between the gate and the track as the train sped by missing the car by inches.
The photographer took pictures of the trapped Mercedes which appeared in the documentary The Definitive Elvis.
Neither of the two incidents were reported, However, Elvis is Dead appeared in Germany newspapers twice: Once when Elvis’ father rolled the Mercedes without Elvis in it. Vernon was okay, but a female passenger had to be taken to the hospital. Another reported 'Elvis death' was when a different Mercedes had a fatal crash.
Elvis returned to America to first appear on the Frank Sinatra TV show. Then, before making the serious western Flaming Star, Elvis agreed to do the musical movie G.I. Blues.
Elvis said: “I finally get out of the Army, and they put me right back into uniform.”
My father, while on a trip in his new 18 wheeler tractor (what they call a semi truck) was on a run to Chicago one night and back. His run after he rose to the top of the seniority list after other older drivers develop heart conditions that had to quit. During the trip he would get a headache and nausea at stop at a medical place he knew. By getting out of the truck he felt better and the three places he stopped they found nothing wrong.
Finally when he got home and felt really bad, he stopped at the local clinic and the doctor there realized from his symptoms that he was having carbon dioxide poisoning. He had a hard time convincing is superiors because the tractor was new. But exhaust was leaking into the cab with the windows rolled up for wintertime and the heater on. He was lucky not to have crashed the tractor and his load, probably killing him.
I have posted here my twin brother and I getting caught by a train on a trestle on our bikes with the train coming within 5 or 6 inches of our handlebars.
Ron