#FlashbackFriday: Armed Forces Day at the Exchange

1955: The Fort Jackson Exchange created this exhibit for Armed Forces Day. Nearly 2,500 people viewed the exhibit, which consisted of three 8-by-8-foot panels, featuring such items as the source of PX earnings, photos of Exchange activities, how earnings are distributed and more.

HQ provided this postcard to Exchanges as a souvenir for visitors at military installations during the May 1961 Armed Forces Day observances.

Helicopters, covered wagons and rockets were all part of an Armed Forces Day display at the Fort Leonard Wood Exchange in 1968.

1980: In one of the more unusual events connected to Armed Forces Day at the Exchange, Guam Area Exchange associates joined with military personnel to adopt the local village of Asan. The adoption program at Andersen AFB originated in September 1976 as an effort to promote good will between the military and the local village residents. One of the big events for the program in 1980 was Armed Forces Day, when military organizations and their adopted villages collaborated on a Chamorro-style celebration. (Pictured: Juan Cruz of Guam’s equipment and facilities force weaves palm fronds for the roof of the Coconut Hut, built by GUAX personnel and Asan villagers and used for serving traditional Chamorro food and drink during the Armed Forces Day celebration.)

This message appeared in the May 1993 Exchange Post.

2008: Fort Drum Exchange associates participate in an Armed Forces Day parade.

An Exchange truck rolls in the  Lawton-Ft. Sill 2023 Armed Forces Parade. The Fort Sill Exchange team also marched in the parade, one of the longest-running and biggest Armed Forces Day parades in the country.