07-03-2011, 11:43 AM
The Army believes he is the last draftee. This guy survived a lot of stuff!
More: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/U...TE=DEFAULT
Quote:When the draft notice arrived in the mail in 1972 at his home in Eugene, Ore., tens of thousands of troops had been killed. Anti-war protests were rampant. Draft cards were being burned and returning soldiers were treated as part of the problem. The military wasn't a popular job.
The return address on the letter was the White House. Just 19, he was impressed that President Richard Nixon would write to him.
"I opened it up and it said, `Greetings from the president of the United States.' I said, `Wow, how's he know me?'" Mellinger said, laughing. "It was a form letter that said my friends and neighbors had selected me to represent them in the Armed Forces and I was hereby ordered to report for induction."
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."
More: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/U...TE=DEFAULT