Mellinger, a command sergeant major for the Army stationed at Fort Belvoir, is believed to be the last draftee to retire — after 39 years. Mellinger, 58, was drafted at 19 years old during the Vietnam War and soon earned a spot in the Army Rangers. He went to do more than 3,700 parachute jumps. Mellinger still remembers when he received his draft notice in 1972 at his home in Eugene, Ore. “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.”
