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JBSA News
NEWS | April 5, 2018

Vietnam veteran has holiday bill paid off at Fort Sam Houston Exchange

By Steve Elliott 502nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

A purchase made after relocating to the San Antonio area in the fall of 2017 turned out to be a real holiday surprise for retired Army Col. Edward Lynch. It qualified him for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service’s worldwide Military Star “Your Holiday Bill is On Us” contest, of which he won one of the grand prizes, a $2,500 payoff towards his card balance.

Since the payoff was greater than his balance, Lynch received a credit to his account for the amount of the difference. Lynch said he and his wife of 53 years, Bobbie, had just relocated back to San Antonio from East Texas and used the card to make a purchase for their new home.

“Actually, I had just come in from walking my dogs and the phone rang. When I picked it up, I didn’t catch who it was from the first time, but they said I had won a prize,” Lynch recalls. “I hung up. I thought it was a scam call!”

About 20 minutes later, Lynch got another call from AAFES and they begged him not to hang up, that it was on the level and he really had won the grand prize.

“This came at a perfect time and will go towards setting up our house her in San Antonio,” said Lynch, a 28-year Army veteran, who began his military career at a medical evacuation pilot flying “dustoff” missions in Vietnam and retired in 1993. He served in healthcare management before he retired and had been a hospital administrator at several assignments.