AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE – AT 10:05 A.M. ET:  This is a very nice July 4th story – the last draftee in the American military is about to retire.  From AP:

FORT BELVOIR, Va. - He didn’t join the Army willingly, but as Command Sergeant Major Jeff Mellinger prepares to retire, he is grateful he found his calling.

Mellinger, 58, was drafted to fight in the Vietnam War, and the Army believes he is the last draftee to retire, after 39 years. Most did their two years and left. But Mellinger had found home.

“I think I’m pretty good at it, but I like it,’’ he said. “That’s the bottom line. I love being a soldier and I love being around soldiers.’’

When the draft notice arrived in the mail in 1972 at his home in Eugene, Ore., tens of thousands of troops had been killed and antiwar protests were rampant. 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.

Once the path was set, he said, he didn’t consider trying to find a way out.

He earned a spot in the Army Rangers, and would go on to do more than 3,700 parachute jumps. He was made a command sergeant major in 1992.

COMMENT:  I've always had mixed feelings about the end of the draft, which came about by presidential order in 1973.  On the one hand, a volunteer military tends to be more efficient, with higher morale and motivation.  On the other hand, not having a draft means fewer Americans have contact with, and an understanding of, the military.  The military has become a class apart.

When I grew up, and I'm sure this applies to many readers as well, you could walk down any block in America and find a number of veterans, or active-duty members of the armed forces.  Today, most Americans don't know any soldiers, and it's rare that we meet one.  Too bad.  Not good for the country.

July 4, 2011