Last U.S. Army draftee to retire

[seamusTX]

In 1972 President Richard Nixon announced a peace treaty to end the Vietnam War; and a 19-year-old man in Eugene, Oregon, received a draft notice. The draftee did not go to Vietnam, but he joined the Rangers and eventually served in Iraq.

Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Mellinger is about to retire after 39 years in the Army, the last person still serving who was drafted.

http://www.military.com/news/article/la ... -army.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[E.Marquez]

CSM Mellinger is a great NCO. Had the privilege to serve in one of his units when I was a wee junior NCO myself.
No nonsense, professional and dedicated to his Soldiers and their profession.

[C-dub]

Awesome.

[philip964]

Number 174 in the lottery and I was not drafted that year, only took to 125.

A young man who was my age that I admired very much, was drafted and his name is on the wall.

God bless them all.

[OldCurlyWolf]

I was No. 135 the year SM Mellinger got his notice. Shortly thereafter, still in 1972, I was changed from 1-A to 1-H.

Good to see him still kicking.

[Bullwhip]

That's crazy. You see all these fake vets his age or younger (too young [abbreviated profanity deleted] rthe draft), hard to imagine a real draftee still serving.

I saw a story couple of weeks ago about a 75 year old army reserve doctor on his 4th tour, 2 in Iraq, 2 in Afganistan.

[The Annoyed Man]

I was No. 135 the year SM Mellinger got his notice. Shortly thereafter, still in 1972, I was changed from 1-A to 1-H.

Good to see him still kicking.

You ducked a bullet, so to speak. I was No. 339 in '71, and like you was changed from 1-A to 1-H in '72.

BTW, CSM Mellinger has featured prominently in a lot of Michael Yon's dispatches from Iraq and Afghanistan. Yon, a former Special Forces soldier himself, thinks the world of CSM Mellinger, and Mellinger has written the forward to Yon's latest book: http://www.michaelyon-online.com/iraq-i ... linger.htm. Apparently, the admiration is mutual.

Mellinger sounds like one of those rare individuals who has managed to put every foot right in his life. That takes a lot of character.