#FlashbackFriday: Pictures of the Exchange in Vietnam
This year will see not only the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, but also the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Exchange’s 10-year presence in Vietnam.
On Sept. 11, 1965, the first staff elements of the Vietnam Regional Exchange (VRE) began to arrive in the Southeast Asian country. The VRE was activated earlier in 1965, with plans to operate at 28 major locations, which would support more than 100 units.
In December, the VRE assumed operation control of the Exchanges from the Navy, ending 12 years of Navy exchange service in Vietnam. VRE established facilities wherever U.S. troops were assigned. At its height during the war, VRE was the largest exchange system in the world.
This Saturday is Vietnam War Veterans Day. Exchanges worldwide will hold pinning ceremonies for Vietnam-era Veterans as a sign of gratitude for their service. In honor of the day. Flashback Friday presents this pictorial look back at the Exchange’s days in Vietnam.
A four-page pamphlet featuring comic-strip character Beetle Bailey helped tell the Exchange story to military personnel stationed in Vietnam. The pamphlet was also distributed to Army and Air Force training centers in the States. Beetle Bailey’s creator, Mort Walker, served in Italy during World War II as an Army intelligence and investigation officer. He was discharged as a first lieutenant in 1947.
Some of the earliest photos from Vietnam to appear in the Exchange Post were taken by Ray Klein, duplicating machine operator at the Southern Service Center, who shot photographs with a camera he bought at the Saigon Exchange. Klein concentrated on photographs of people, such as these three Vietnamese women at work.
The Saigon Main Exchange, in a photo that appeared in the 1967 Exchange Post.
The Vietnam Regional Exchange delivered goods via helicopter to troops around Vietnam who were isolated from retail outlets. In 1967, at least one chopper made an average of 12 stops a day.
From 1968: A mobile Exchange makes a stop near Dong Ha. More than 20 similar trucks operated in the country, bringing troops doughnuts, ice cream, cold soda, sandwiches and, in some cases, such hot foods as sloppy joes or beans and franks.
Circa 1969: An American Soldier gets a haircut from a Vietnamese barber working as a concessionaire for the Vietnam Regional Exchange, circa 1969. During the Vietnam War, the Vietnam Regional Exchange operated more than 2,500 concessions, including 371 barber shops.
From the March 1970 Exchange Post: Troops of the 173rd Airborne Brigade wait for the opening of the new Sky Soldiers PX at Bong Son, Vietnam. The 173rd was the first Army combat unit in Vietnam, the first to make a helicopter assault and the first to engage the enemy. Before the opening of the Bong Son Exchange, Soldiers had to travel 40 miles to shop.
From the February 1971 Exchange Post: The Exchange’s mobile photo service in the Binh Thuy-Can Tho area of Vietnam. The studio traveled throughout the Mekong Delta.
From the July 1972 Exchange Post: Vietnamese workmen repair the roof of the U.S. Army, Vietnam, Main Exchange at Long Binh. A May monsoon wind ripped off the metal roofing; merchandise suffered wind and rain damage.
From 1973: An Exchange associate, center, at Clark Air Base in the Philippines chats with one of the recently released American POWs from North Vietnam. At right is his military escort. Airlifted out Hanoi, 591 POWs’ first stop was Clark AB—and the first store they would visit was the base exchange.
1975: Vietnam Area Exchange General Manager Leroy E. Eckhardt, left, and Warehouse Manager Ryland D. Coates were among four Exchange managers and about 35 Vietnamese associates who were among thousands taken from South Vietnam on the final day of American evacuation before the fall of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). Eckhardt and Coates are shopping for new clothes because they escaped Saigon with only the clothing they were wearing.
For more photos of the Exchange in Vietnam and for photos from previous Vietnam War Veterans Day ceremonies, check out these Flickr albums.
Sources: Exchange Post archives, Exchange History on Flickr; “One Hundred Years of Service: A History of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service”; MortWalker.com.
A very interesting read!