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The Military Consumer and the Vietnam War

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The Military Consumer and the Vietnam War W&M ScholarWorks Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 2005 Consumer Under Fire: The Military Consumer and the Vietnam War Evan Cordulack College of William & Mary - Arts & Sciences Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons, Military History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Cordulack, Evan, "Consumer Under Fire: The Military Consumer and the Vietnam War" (2005). Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects. Paper 1539626481. https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-q9eq-3s39 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CONSUMER UNDER FIRE The Military Consumer and the Vietnam War A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of the American Studies Program The College of William and Mary in Virginia In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Evan Cordulack 2005 APPROVAL SHEET This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts an Cordulack Approved by Committee, December 2005 Leisa Meyer, Chair Hiroshi Kitamura, Professor Qharles M^Gj ivem, Professor To Angela Chase and A.C. Slater TABLE OF CONTENTS Page List of Figures v Abstract vii Introduction 2 Chapter 1. Commercializing the War Zone 4 Chapter 2. Quagmire of Consumption 26 Chapter 3. Deployed Abundance 80 Epilogue 101 Bibliography 143 Vita 158 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1.1 Tabasco Charlie Ration Cookbook 104 1.2 Tabasco Charlie Ration Cookbook 105 1.3 Tabasco Charlie Ration Cookbook 106 1.4 Tabasco Charlie Ration Cookbook 107 1.5 Tabasco Charlie Ration Cookbook 108 1.6 Tabasco Charlie Ration Cookbook 109 1.7 Tabasco Charlie Ration Cookbook 110 1.8 Tabasco Charlie Ration Cookbook 111 1.9 Tabasco Charlie Ration Cookbook 112 1.10 Tabasco Charlie Ration Cookbook 113 1.11 Tabasco Charlie Ration Cookbook 114 2.1 Overseas Weekly, Front Page (June 20, 1970) 116 2.2 Overseas Weekly, Advertising Insert (June 20, 1970) 118 2.3 Overseas Weekly, Advertising Insert (June 20, 1970) 120 2.4 Overseas Weekly, Rise Advertisement (June 20, 1970) 121 2.5 Overseas Weekly, TWA Advertisement (June 20, 1970) 123 3.1 Convenient Food Mart Advertisement 124 v Figure Page 4.1 M16A1 Rifle Manual, Front Cover 125 4.2 M16A1 Rifle Manual 126 4.3 M16A1 Rifle Manual 127 4.4 M16A1 Rifle Manual 128 4.5 M16A1 Rifle Manual 129 4.6 M16A1 Rifle Manual 130 4.7 M16A1 Rifle Manual 131 4.8 M16A1 Rifle Manual 132 4.9 M16A1 Rifle Manual 133 4.10 M16A1 Rifle Manual 134 4.11 M16A1 Rifle Manual 135 4.12 M16A1 Rifle Manual 136 4.13 M16A1 Rifle Manual 137 4.14 M16A1 Rifle Manual 138 4.15 M16A1 Rifle Manual 139 4.16 M16A1 Rifle Manual 140 4.17 M16A1 Rifle Manual, Back Cover 142 vi ABSTRACT During the Vietnam War a network of military owned and operated retail stores called post exchanges imported and sold American brand name goods to Americans and their allies working and fighting in Vietnam. The agency running the VRE, Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), operated the exchanges to raise money for recreational programs to boost morale. By importing versions of American shopping and consumption habits to Vietnam, the PX served as space in which to contrast the American way of life and its accompanying affluence to a war tom Vietnam. For many service members the post exchange provided a reminder of home. This reminder came in the form of commodities and the shopping experience itself. For some, the goods at the PX reminded them positively of home, for others the exchange’s shelves reflected the inequalities of America. African-American and female service members often did not have access to essential products. The items procured by AAFES catered to the wants and needs of white male consumers. The PX cast consumption as an acceptable behavior in which white men could participate. Through the items they offered, design of the store and sales promotions, AAFES created a space in which male consumers could spend their money while constructing and maintaining a sanctioned version of masculinity. The American military helped make men feel comfortable consuming, however, military officials did not act alone. Corporations jumped at the chance to market their goods to American service members. Advertisers pushed their goods to troops to build brand loyalty and to create a patriotic image for their respective companies that would result in both immediate and future profits at home and abroad. CONSUMER UNDER FIRE 2 INTRODUCTION This project is my first attempt at understanding the relationship between the state, corporations and people. Here, I have chosen to focus on how a consumer culture mediated these relationships in Southeast Asia, mostly among Americans, during the Vietnam Conflict. The main institution in this project is the post exchange (PX)—a military owned and operated department store. During the Vietnam War a network of these retail stores, imported and sold American brand name goods to Americans and their allies working and fighting in Vietnam. The agency running the VRE, Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), operated the exchanges to raise money for \ recreational programs to boost morale. By importing versions of American shopping and consumption habits to Vietnam, the PX served as space in which to contrast the American way of life and its accompanying affluence to a war tom Vietnam. For many service members the post exchange provided a reminder of home. This reminder came in the form of commodities and the shopping experience itself. For some, the goods at the PX reminded them positively of home, for others the exchange’s shelves reflected the inequalities of America. African-American and female service members often did not have access to essential products. The items procured by AAFES catered to the wants and needs of white male consumers. The PX cast consumption as an acceptable behavior in which white men could participate. Through the items they offered, design of the store and sales promotions, AAFES 3 created a space in which male consumers could spend their money while constructing and maintaining a sanctioned version of masculinity. The American military helped make men feel comfortable consuming, however, military officials did not act alone. Corporations jumped at the chance to market their goods to American service members. Advertisers pushed their goods to troops to build brand loyalty and to create a patriotic image for their respective companies that would result in both immediate and future profits at home and abroad. In order to discuss how commodities functioned in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam Conflict, we must first turn our attention to World War I. This war saw the American Military establish the infrastructure necessary to distribute goods to troops. World War II marked the emergence of advertisers who directed their attention to the military consumer. The structure (distribution and advertising methods) that would guide the Vietnam-era military market was mostly in place by the end of the Second World War. 4 CHAPTER 1. COMMERCIALIZING THE WAR ZONE While in Burma during World War II, a young private’s thoughts drifted to his Aunt. Deciding to write her a letter, the soldier grappled with his memories as he put his thoughts on paper. Despite his frustrations—calling the war a “damn mess”—this soldier articulated one of the reasons why he, and others like him, fought. Rather than citing a broad-sweeping reason, such as defending democracy, this nephew posited a more nuanced mission for the American presence in the Pacific. To him, GIs fought to preserve freedom and the American way of life, symbolized in his words, in “the custom of drinking Coke.”1 The relationship between the state and American corporations cultivated in wartime influenced the lives of many service members. Whether serving in the Pacific in World War II or in Southeast Asia in the late 1960s, American troops, while they could not participate in the American marketplace in the same way as civilians, never ceased to be consumers. The tradition of distributing commodities to troops predates the United States , yet the patterns of consumption taking place in Vietnam did not take shape until the 20* tli century. Service organizations, like the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), began to provide goods to military personnel beginning in World War I in hopes of advancing their own agendas—such as temperance. More importantly, these organizations recognized and aided the U.S. military in structuring 1 Richard S. Tedlow, New and Improved (New York: Basic Books, 1990), 62. 2 David M. Delo, Peddlers and Post Traders (Sait Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1992), 1,2, 48, 51. 5 the troops’ “right” to consume American products. The massive military mobilization of World War II, drawing from all segments of the population, inducted many advertising and marketing professionals into the Armed Forces. Once in the military, these men and women realized that their co-workers in the military wanted to purchase American goods and informed the business community of these potential consumers through a series of articles in advertising and marketing trade journals. At this moment, the confluence of existing distribution mechanisms established in WWI and the recognition of military personnel as consumers by the business and advertising communities permanently welded consumption to the lives of the men and women of the Armed Forces.
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