George Washington's Birthday became a Federal holiday in 1880. In 1888 and 1894, respectively, Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) and Labor Day were created. In 1938, Armistice Day (now Veterans Day) was created to mark the end of World War I.
On June 30, 1973, Archie Turner was the last known person drafted into the US Army. Though he did not choose to join the Army, he chose to stay.
By warâs end some 35 million men had registered and 10 million were drafted. The draft had produced a military that could not only stand up to Germany and Japan, but could decisively defeat them. Carl Zebrowski is the managing editor of America in WWII. This article originally appeared in the December 2007 issue of the magazime. Order a copy of this issue now.