COMMISSARIES IN VIETNAM: U.S. troops, families, government civilians, contractors received the benefit of groceries in a war zone

NOTE: Click here to see a DeCA video related to military commissaries in Vietnam.

FORT LEE, Va. – National Vietnam War Veterans Day, March 29, honors Vietnam War-era veterans and their families for their service and sacrifice during a conflict that lasted more than 20 years.

As the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) joins the nation’s salute to its Vietnam War-era service members, the agency reflects on the commissaries that provided the benefit in that war zone.

“We at DeCA are privileged to acknowledge our military’s service and sacrifice during the Vietnam War,” said Marine Sgt. Maj. Michael R. Saucedo, senior enlisted advisor to the DeCA director. “As commissaries supported them over there more than 55 years ago, I welcome and encourage our Vietnam War veterans, who are also disabled veterans, to use their new on-base shopping benefits.”

Those commissary benefits, now expanded for veterans with a disability rating, include huge savings and an enhanced shopping experience with Commissary CLICK2GO online ordering/curbside pickup and dietitian-approved products.

March 29 was chosen as the date of the national observance because on that day in 1973 the Military Assistance Command in Vietnam (MACV) was disbanded and the last U.S. combat troops left the Republic of Vietnam.

Approximately 9 million Americans served on active duty during the Vietnam War, with American involvement beginning Nov. 1, 1955. Of that number, around 2.7 million served in Vietnam. More than 58,000 were killed and 304,000 were wounded.

The first wave of U.S. combat troops came ashore at Da Nang in the spring of 1965. Until that time, a number of American military advisors, some with their family members, had been stationed in Vietnam for nearly a decade. Before American troops arrived, the French military had occupied the country in an unsuccessful attempt to regain control of their Indochina colony after World War II.

The U.S. Navy operated the first American military commissary in Saigon in 1959. Several branch commissaries later opened in Cholon, Newport, Long Binh and near Tan Son Nhut Air Base. These commissaries served American service personnel and their families, as well as U.S. news reporters, contract workers and government workers stationed in South Vietnam.

U.S. family members were evacuated from South Vietnam after the expansion of hostilities and the Gulf of Tonkin incident of August 1964. This shift in population caused a change in commissary patronage.

Initially, the Saigon Commissary could not accommodate the thousands of incoming combat troops scattered all over South Vietnam, so those troops were given mess hall privileges and separate rations pay to enable them to shop on the local economy. As the war expanded so did the availability of products in commissaries.

In 1965 a dairy company from Wisconsin opened operations in Saigon and started shipping dairy products to all the commissaries in country. The company received whole milk solids from the States, which were then reconstituted with purified water and packaged in cartons for distribution. Some former service men recalled that the chocolate milk was outstanding.

In April 1966, the U.S. Army took over the responsibility for running the commissaries in South Vietnam. The commissaries remained in operation even after the 1973 ceasefire because many of the U.S. personnel were still there in non-combat and embassy missions.

On April 30, 1975, communist forces overran Saigon and U.S. contractors and Vietnamese support personnel fled for the airports, desperately trying to evacuate. The commissaries were looted by locals who stole as much food as they could carry in the wake of the South Vietnamese surrender.

Since the Vietnam War, military commissaries have supported U.S. troops in war zones from Tehran to North Africa ensuring the benefit follows our service members during peacetime and war.

“As we observe National Vietnam War Veterans Day, we also recall the history of military commissaries that served our troops, families and DOD civilians in Vietnam during that time,” Saucedo said. “Today, as then, commissaries are still serving many of those veterans whose service has not been forgotten.”

-DeCA-

About DeCA: The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Commissaries provide a military benefit, saving authorized patrons thousands of dollars annually on their purchases compared to similar products at commercial retailers. The discounted prices include a 5-percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America’s military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.