A Gedunk bar or geedunk bar ( ) is the

canteen {{Primary sources, date=February 2007 Canteen is an Australian national support organisation for young people (aged 12–25) living with cancer; including cancer patients, their brothers and sisters, and young people with parents or primary carers ...

snack bar A snack bar usually refers to an inexpensive food counter that is part of a permanent structure where snack foods and light meals are sold. Description A beach snack bar is often a small building situated high on the sand. Besides soft drink ...

of a large vessel of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

or the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...

. The term in this sense was first recorded in '' Leatherneck Magazine'' in 1931. A service member who works in the geedunk is traditionally referred to only as that "geedunk guy" or "geedunk girl", or more informally as a "geedunkaroo". The term was popular during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Overview

The origin of the word is uncertain. One theory suggests the name is derived from the "gee-dunk" sound that

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The fi ...

s made when operated. Another theory is that the term is derived from the comic strip Harold Teen, in which Harold eats Gedunk sundaes at the local

soda shop A soda shop, also often known as a malt shop (after malted milk) and as a “malted shop” in Canada, is a business akin to an ice cream parlor and a drugstore soda fountain. Interiors were often furnished with a large mirror behind a marble count ...

. Navy ships would also then have soda shops rather than bars, as the Navy has been bone-dry afloat since alcohol was banned by

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in 1911. Yet another theory suggests that the word's origin is from a Chinese word meaning "place of idleness". The gedunk bar was usually open for longer hours than the

mess The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

. Such bars were stocked with a wide variety of consumables such as snacks, soft drinks and fresh coffee. In the 21st century, Sailors and Marines continue to call a place where snacks are for sale a "gedunk bar" or "gedunk machine" and refer to the snacks themselves as "gedunk". In modern times, the gedunk is usually a spare room or space in a unit's location, where there are refrigerators and shelves to hold cold drinks and snacks. Some gedunks have coffee pots, hot soup and occasionally barbecues. Items range in price from $.25 to a few dollars. Gedunks are stocked by purchasing bulk food items from grocery stores or warehouse stores such as

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation ( doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costc ...

, not items taken from official supply chains. Profits from gedunk sales are minor, but usually go toward unit functions, such as the Marine Ball. During the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

, all who served honorably in the U.S. armed forces were awarded the

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four ...

. Because the medal was issued regardless of any length of service during the specified period (i.e., graduating from boot camp), it was called a ''"Gedunk medal"''.

References

{{Reflist United States Navy traditions

Overview

See also

References