Veterans vent after commissary closing

ORANGE COUNTY, California (CNN) -- The issue of closed military commissaries hasn't come up in the presidential debates, but veterans like Al Holtz wish it would.

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The retired Marine who lost both legs in the Korean War is among many vets in Southern California who feel cheated now that a military benefit they had come to count on -- a 30 percent discount on groceries and other supplies -- has gone away.

The commissary at the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, south of Los Angeles in Orange County, emptied its shelves last month as part of a base closure measure signed into law in 1990 by President George Bush.

The commissary system -- a perk of military life -- partly offsets low service pay. "When you go into the service, they promised you a lot. And when you get out, they promise you nothing," Holtz says.

Members of California's congressional delegation sought in vain to keep El Toro's commissary open.

The U.S. Defense Commissary Agency says exceptions to closing orders are possible "if the branch of service responsible for the active duty members requests it."

"This was not the case for El Toro, and it has closed," the agency said in a statement to CNN.

Now, if retired and active military personnel living in Orange County still want those 30 percent discounts, they will have to make a longer drive. The next closest commissary to El Toro is 25 miles away.

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Defense Commissary Agency

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