Post Exchanges

Post Exchanges

. For those of you in the military, you’ll know what these are, the US military’s concession to shopping. They have name brand products at ultra low prices, and no sales tax. Thanks to our mother’s valiant service in the US Navy (LCDR-retired) we had access to the various PXes in the US and Europe growing up. Since I’m civilian now, and always have been, my access has been dramatically reduced since I turned 23 back in 1992 and could no longer go by myself. But certainly they form a substantial part of my youth, and I definitely look back upon them fondly.

History. The system was originally started in 1895, but only after it dropped the ball big time in WWI did anyone start to work on it. The term “PX” came from the Philippines (Fort McKinley) from 1910-20. In WWII the system took off. They further refined the system in Vietnam, a challenge due to the climate – but had to clear out everything in 1975 for obvious reasons; remarkably, the last PX closed on April 29, 1975 – the day before Saigon fell. The military expanded operations, added a catalog service, and eventually co-opted with fast food chains to put real restaurants into the PXes. Clearly the permanent bases overseas and at home have various facilities, but the challenge has been meeting the needs of troops closer to actual combat operations.

SHAPE. “Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe”, NATO’s HQ in Belgium after DeGaulle kicked it out of France in the late 60s. The PX itself was actually at Chievres, about 15 minutes away from SHAPE itself. In addition to the boring administrative buildings, the SHAPE base itself had the Officer’s Club, the bowling alley, the medical center (where I had my wisdom teeth taken out in June 1986), and the movie theater. It’s the closest US base to Paris, so we had special yellow permits to allow us access. Although we did go to Ramstein and Kaiserslautern, 4-5 hours away from Paris, in Germany, these were only 2-3 times, far less often than Belgium. Most often we’d go up for 2-3 days, although occasionally we’d go up for a single day.

Here was the deal: we would drive up from Paris to Belgium in the morning, leaving around 7-8 a.m. The base is very close in off the border – with a crazy tower. The total drive was about 3 hours. First stop: “The Four Seasons”, which doubled as the toy store and the lawn/garden center. My preference at this time was for model tanks and soldiers, either Monogram or Tamiya, usually German WWII. Second stop: Stars & Stripes (book store), for Archie comics, rock and gaming magazines, and other books (usually about war). Third stop: Burger Bar, for mozzarella pizza. We would also check out videos on the video jukebox (“Steel Monkey” by Jethro Tull, and “Learning to Fly” by Pink Floyd) or play video games in the small arcade. Fourth stop: PX, starting with the Sights & Sounds department (records, tapes, TVs, stereos, etc.), drifting off to shoes, clothing, and other boring stuff. This was the PX where we scored, among other things: our first VHS player, in 1980, and Sad Wings of Destiny and Sin After Sin, by Judas Priest, on vinyl, summer of 1984.
After a fun day of shopping, we’d head to the Raymond Hotel in Mons for mozzarella pizza and AFN TV. Note: this pizza was unique. I’ve never tasted anything like it anywhere else or since. Is there a recipe? Somehow I doubt the Army would get anyone interested in its catering – or a chain of fast food places serving military food (“the Mess Hall!”)
The next day: commissary, for several cartloads of American food – expertly crammed into the trunk, or suitcases on the car room, by our father - followed by another run to the PX to catch anything which came in on that day’s shipment. For some reason the truck DID seem to bring CD players, VCRs and lots of great stuff at the last moment.
On the way back we’d be smushed, three of us, in the back seat of a Chrysler-Simca or Peugeot 505, reading comic books, with a thankful rest stop in northeastern France with plenty of cassette tapes to check out.

Raymond Hotel. Mons has the historical distinction of being the place in Belgium where the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) first made contact with the Kaiser’s army in World War I. So this is one of these medieval Belgian towns like Bruges. The Raymond Hotel is a US run hotel usually stocked with Americans waiting for their shipments to come in before moving to Brussels. We used it as a base of operations to allow us multiple days at the SHAPE PX instead of driving 3 hours back and forth each day. It was right across the street from the train station. Sometimes we actually went out and explored Mons itself, even to the point of scoring plastic FN-FAL and Thompson toy guns which shot little plastic bullets, with a lethal muzzle velocity of…3 feet per second. The Hotel had AFN TV, a cafeteria with that above-mentioned unique AAFES pizza, and even an activity room in the basement with an Atari 2600. I recall watching the Prince Charles-Lady Diana wedding in July 1981 on TV down there. ZZZ.

Armed Forces Network (AFN) TV. Lots of American TV in English, even if they might have been a few seasons old. “Dallas”, “The Tonight Show” etc. with the schedule in that day’s Stars & Stripes. Instead of commercials, AFN showed various public service announcements (“don’t drink and drive on the Autobahn!”) and Army news. Although French TV showed American shows, they were always dubbed into French, which spoiled the fun. AFN TV gave us the real deal.

Garmisch. Honorable mention for our trip to Garmisch in January 1990. My brother Matt, my friend Phil, and I, staying at the General Patton Hotel. We enjoyed a few days skiing on the Zugspitze, thanks to the Armed Forces Recreation Service, or something like that. We even did a day tour of Munich, which included the Olympic Stadium (site of the ill-fated 1972 Olympics and current home of Bayern Munchen) and the town square, even a trip to the Hofbrauhaus. The bar at the hotel closed at midnight but served 75 cent beers and $1.5 mixed drinks (tequila sunrises).

Bethesda. This is probably the US facility we’re most familiar with – hell, I was born in the hospital there. I can remember when the PX was a bunch of old buildings linked together by small passageways, and a generic “snack bar” type of restaurant. Now it’s a large, modern department store with a McDonald’s. I scored my motorcycle jacket here during college, for half the price of a civilian store.

Walter Reed. This is not the hospital itself (on 16^th Street) but the PX over by Georgia Avenue. This was a close second to Bethesda, especially since Walter Reed has a commissary and Bethesda doesn’t. I remember getting gas here when I was at college – the gas was much cheaper on base. This one hasn’t changed much; I don’t recall any earlier, old-fashioned style before the current format which dates from the 70s.

Cameron Station. Now an upscale townhouse neighborhood off Duke Street near Pickett Street, down the road from Landmark Mall. This was a huge PX, where we picked up the Intellivision AD&D Treasure of Tarmin game on one of our home leaves.

Fort Myer. In Arlington, right outside DC. Not as large as Cameron Station. I recall the commissary was HUGE.

Henderson Hall. Right next to Fort Myer and the Arlington Cemetary. The Marine PX. I scored Master of Reality (Black Sabbath) on tape here in 1984, again back when this place was a set of old-fashioned buildings separated from each other. Now they have a multi-story modern place with a Burger King inside.

Officer’s Clubs. I always considered them dull, as our interaction herein was fancy dinners. I’ve never been a soldier, much less an officer, so I was always some civilian kid enduring them.