Department of Pacific History

The Provisional Department of Pacific Areas was formally instituted on 3 December 1966 at VFW Post 9467 at Yokohama, Japan. The formation of the Department was a direct result of the continued cooperation of VFW Posts in the Far East Area. Its jurisdiction encompassed the areas 160 degrees longitude to 90 degrees longitude, and from 50 degrees north latitude to 50 degrees south latitude, but not to include the Hawaiian Islands.

Following the cessation of hostilities of WWII, VFW Posts were organized in Yokohama and Tokyo in 1947. Posts in Nagoya and Osaka soon followed these. Early evidence of inter-post cooperation and efforts was the "ALL Japan Muster" held in Yokohama on 22 October 1948, when five posts in Japan first petitioned National Headquarters for a Department Charter. The constant shifting and reducing of occupation troops resulted in numerous member shifts. This necessitated the relocation and reorganization of many post in Japan.

In October 1953 the first Far East VFW Convention was held at Tokyo, Japan. Delegates attended this convention from Japan, Korea, Okinawa and Vietnam. From this quasi-official unit the new Provisional Department was formed in 1966 but only included posts located in mainland Japan. VFW posts in other areas outside Japan, which were chartered before 1970 were independent posts under National Headquarters. The true history of the VFW in the Pacific goes back to 1948 when Tokyo Post 9450, Yokohama Post 9467in Japan and Okinawa were chartered as independent posts. Other posts were chartered beginning in 1963. Over the years, new posts have been added, closed, or merged with other posts.

There are currently 2 Posts in Okinawa, 5 in Japan, 7 in Korea, 2 in Taiwan, 4 in Thailand (including the one in Cambodia), 2 in Guam (including one in Saipan), 4 in the Philippines for a total of 28 posts. There are 7 districts including Okinawa-I, Japan-II, Korea-III, Taiwan-IV, Thailand/Cambodia-V, Guam/Marianas-VI), and Philippines-VII.

Department membership reached its peak in the 70's during the Vietnam era with over 23,000 members and Post 9723 in Okinawa being the largest VFW Post in the world with over 20,000 members. After the Vietnam War the membership gradually declined until 1981 when membership started increasing again. In 1999 membership reached 7,000 and now stands at 11,443 members as of the end of 2007 membership year. The Member-at-Large Post 15055 currently stands at 584 members, as listed by National MEMSTATS for 2007.  

 

Saturday, March 22, 2008 02:31:02 AM

Pages Updated by Historian 2007 - 08

Dennis Carlton