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RE: The last person inducted in the draft was in June 1973
Posted on: October 3, 2022 at 11:52:21 CT
Spanky KU
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https://www.nytimes.com/1982/05/31/nyregion/last-draftee-glad-he-s-out.html
The last man, as Dwight Elliot Stone has come to be known, yielded to the inevitable on June 30, 1973. His status as the final American draftee to be inducted into military service made him something of a celebrity.
Reporters and photographers recorded his progress through basic training at Fort Polk in Louisiana. But Mr. Stone, who was drafted in 1972 but not required to report until that summer day in 1973, was unimpressed.
''All I wanted to do was put in my time and get out,'' he said in a recent telephone interview. He was 24 years old at the time, a pipe fitter for an oil company. The Army, in classic fashion, took a pipe mechanic and trained him to be an electronics technician.
''My attitude was: I'm in this man's army and the best thing I can do is to get out as quick as I can,'' he said. ''Don't start no trouble.''
He spent most of his time at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, and on Nov. 14, 1974, was honorably released from his obligation. ''I wouldn't have joined,'' he said. ''It wasn't the place to be. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone. I didn't like it. It was poorly run.''
Mr. Stone, who now lives in Sacramento, Calif., and works at the same pipe company where he worked before he was drafted, rejects the axiom that time in uniform tends to build character. ''About the only thing I learned is restraint, patience,'' he said. ''What guy wants to carry a rifle and be a hero?''
The last man, as Dwight Elliot Stone has come to be known, yielded to the inevitable on June 30, 1973. His status as the final American draftee to be inducted into military service made him something of a celebrity.
Reporters and photographers recorded his progress through basic training at Fort Polk in Louisiana. But Mr. Stone, who was drafted in 1972 but not required to report until that summer day in 1973, was unimpressed.
''All I wanted to do was put in my time and get out,'' he said in a recent telephone interview. He was 24 years old at the time, a pipe fitter for an oil company. The Army, in classic fashion, took a pipe mechanic and trained him to be an electronics technician.
''My attitude was: I'm in this man's army and the best thing I can do is to get out as quick as I can,'' he said. ''Don't start no trouble.''
He spent most of his time at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, and on Nov. 14, 1974, was honorably released from his obligation. ''I wouldn't have joined,'' he said. ''It wasn't the place to be. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone. I didn't like it. It was poorly run.''
Mr. Stone, who now lives in Sacramento, Calif., and works at the same pipe company where he worked before he was drafted, rejects the axiom that time in uniform tends to build character. ''About the only thing I learned is restraint, patience,'' he said. ''What guy wants to carry a rifle and be a hero?''
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RE: The last person inducted in the draft was in June 1973 - Spanky KU - 10/3 11:52:21