A Gedunk bar or geedunk bar ( ) is the

canteen Canteen most often refers to: * Canteen (bottle), a water container * Cafeteria, a type of food service location within an institution in which there is little or no waiting staff table service * A complete set of cutlery comprising knives, forks, ...

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 naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

or the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

. The term in this sense was first recorded in ''

Leatherneck Magazine ''Leatherneck Magazine of the Marines'' (or simply ''Leatherneck'') is a magazine for United States Marines. History and profile The first ''Leatherneck'' was published Nov. 17, 1917, as a four-page newspaper. It was called ''The Quantico Leat ...

'' 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

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 dispenses 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 payment is otherwise m ...

s made when operated. Another theory is that the term is derived from the comic strip

Harold Teen ''Harold Teen'' is a discontinued, long-running American comic strip written and drawn by Carl Ed (pronounced "eed"). Publisher Joseph Medill Patterson may have suggested and certainly approved the strip's concept, loosely based on Booth Tarkin ...

, in which Harold eats Gedunk sundaes, chocolate ice cream with ladyfingers "ge-dunked" into it, at the local

soda shop A soda shop, also often known as a malt shop (after malted milk) and as a malted shop , 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 counter with goose- ...

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

Secretary of the Navy The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense. On March 25, 2025, John Phelan was confirm ...

Josephus Daniels Josephus Daniels (May 18, 1862 – January 15, 1948) was a newspaper editor, Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson, and U.S. Ambassador to Mexico under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He managed ''The News & Observer'' in R ...

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 is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, Cos ...

, 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 (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, 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 was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...

. 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