Last Vietnam Draftee Finally Leaving Army (VIDEO)

Flickr/<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/isafmedia/5450207695/">isafmedia</a>

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

This summer, the US military will finally become an all-volunteer force.

Sure, technically, America’s armed forces have been considered voluntary since the draft was abolished back in 1973. But Command Sgt. Major Jeffrey Mellinger puts the lie to that: He is the last Vietnam-era draftee still serving in the military these many decades later. That will change in a few months, when he retires from the Army after 39 years in uniform.

“Draftees are pretty maligned over time,” he told the AP, “but the fact is they are part of every branch of service up to 1973, and when you look at what those military branches accomplished over time, I’ll let the record speak for itself.” The Army obviously life agreed with Mellinger, whose face is ubiquitous in military public affairs photos. In 2007-8, he served as David Petraeus’ senior enlisted adviser with the US coalition in Baghdad, and he recently served a similar role in Afghanistan.

But Mellinger’s high-profile successes and enthusiasm for regimentation weren’t experiences common to many US conscripts. And in recent years, between stop-loss orders, multiple deployments, and the plucking of reservists and guardsmen for active duty, many “volunteer” service members have had to make big involuntary sacrifices reminiscent of the lottery days. These sacrifices have fallen disproportionately on less affluent Americans who are more likely to volunteer for service. They’ve also contributed to a yawning gap in civil-military relations, which is why Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y., and himself no great advertisement for upright selfless sacrifice) keeps trying to revive the draft every year.

Strange, isn’t it? Left-leaning politicians now seeing social benefits in reviving a government practice whose abolishment was once the raison d’etre of the left? But Rangel’s not alone in thinking that an equally applied service requirement could make Americans more circumspect about the use of force in general. It could be an interesting fix for continued unemployment, too. Mellinger recalled his own experience after getting an induction letter from Uncle Sam:

Mellinger told the draft board there was a mistake.

“I…told them I don’t need to go into the Army, I’ve got a job,” said Mellinger, who hung drywall for a living. “They just kind of laughed.”

What do you think? Could a 21st century draft bring about a more humane, civic-minded American electorate, or would it just provide a new heavy-duty outlet for Jingoism™? Drop us a line in the comments. And in the meantime, hear Mellinger in his own words:

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate