• FORT GREGG-ADAMS
On March 29, the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) joins all Americans in honoring veterans on National Vietnam War Veterans Day. All commissaries worldwide are planning free giveaways of special lapel pins, fact sheets and commemoration brochures courtesy of the Vietnam War Commemoration Office.
Vietnam Veterans Day was first established by presidential proclamation in 2012 leading to the start of annual observance events in 2014.
The Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act of 2017 further established the events as a national observance to recognize Vietnam War-era veterans who served from Nov. 1, 1955, to May 15, 1975.
According to the National Vietnam War Commemoration website (https://www.vietnamwar50th.com/), the observance date recognizes March 29, 1973, the day the United States Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, ceased operations with the last U.S. combat troops leaving the country.
“It’s a privilege for us at DeCA to honor our Vietnam War veterans for their service and sacrifice,” said John E. Hall, agency director and chief executive officer (CEO).
“More than five decades ago, there were military commissaries over there to support them, and I welcome and encourage our Vietnam War veterans, [many of whom] are also disabled veterans, to use their on-base shopping benefits today,” he stated.
Approximately 9 million U.S. military members served on active duty during the Vietnam War era. Out of the 2.7 million U.S. service members who served in Vietnam, more than 58,000 were killed and more than 304,000 were wounded.
WAR ZONE COMMISSARIES
As DeCA joins the nation’s salute, the agency reflected on the commissaries that provided the benefit in that war zone.
The U.S. Navy operated the first American commissary in Saigon in 1959. Several branches of commissaries later opened in Cholon, Newport, Long Binh, and near Tan Son Nhut AB.
These military commissaries served American service personnel and their families, as well as news reporters, contract workers and government employees stationed in South Vietnam.
American military family members were evacuated from South Vietnam after the expansion of hostilities and the Gulf of Tonkin incident in 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 many of those troops were given separate rations pay to allow them to shop on the local economy.
As the war expanded, so did the availability of products in commissaries.
In April 1966, the U.S. Army took over running the commissaries in South Vietnam. The commissaries remained in operation after the 1973 ceasefire because many American personnel were still there in non-combat and embassy missions.
Commissary operations ended on April 30, 1975, as communist forces overran Saigon and the U.S. evacuated American and Vietnamese support personnel.
“HONORING FAMILY”
At DeCA, supporting the military is part of the DNA of its workforce, with more than 65 percent of commissary employees having a direct connection to the military as a veteran, a retiree, a military family member or a reservist.
“We are honoring ‘family’ when we salute our Vietnam War-era veterans,” said Navy Command Master Chief Mario Rivers, senior enlisted advisor to the DeCA director. “We encourage everyone to do their part in honoring these veterans and their families.
“For Vietnam veterans who are disabled and can shop in our stores, we want them to know their commissary is here to deliver savings of at least 25 percent on their grocery bill.”
Source: DeCA
Edited by Larry Lapka
