Archives To Open Sealed Military Documents

When Elvis Presley entered the Army, a fretful public launched a letter-writing campaign. "Will you please, please be so sweet and kind as to ask Ike to bring Elvis Presley back to us from the Army? We need him in our entertainment world," pleaded one 1958 letter from a Sacramento, Calif., couple to then-first lady Mamie Eisenhower.

Copies of military records of Elvis Presley, Steven McQueen and novelist John "Jack" Kerouac, a few of the 1.2 million documents that will be made public, are seen at the National Personnel Records Center, Wednesday, June 8, 2005, in Overland, Mo. The National Archives will be opening 1.2 million military records, including records for John Kennedy, Presley, and Jackie Robinson, to the public for the first time Saturday, June 11.

The anxious missive is among documents included in the 1.2 million military personnel files the National Archives will open to the public Saturday for the first time.

Among the documents are records related to famous politicians, military leaders _ and at least one rock 'n' roll star. The bulk, however, relate to former enlisted personnel in the Navy from 1885 to 1939, or in the Marines from 1906 to 1939.

Elvis' time in the military sparked high interest. Parents of enlisted men wrote letters, too, worried the star would get preferential treatment or early release.

"I am sure us poor people can do without his singing and rock and roll until he serves his country just like my son has to," an Oak Park, Ill., mother wrote to a congressman.