US Taiwan Defense Command: New Photos of Admirals

Sunday, November 21, 2010

New Photos of Admirals

Sarj Bloom, who was one of the USTDC photographers, has provided many great photos for the blog during the past couple of years or so. He recently sent me these three, which were probably taken during May of 1962.

Major General Sanborn, USTDC Chief of Staff (left) and Vice Admiral Melson, USTDC Commander (second from right). I don't know who the ROC officers are.

Vice Admiral and Mrs. Smoot departing Taiwan

(l to r) Vice Admiral Smoot, probably the Chief of MAAG Taiwan, and Vice Admiral Melson

5 comments:

Scott said...: Don,

The MAAG Chief is MG Chester A. Dahlen.

Scott; 22 November, 2010 06:52
Victor said...: I think the person second from left in the first photo is Peng, Meng-Chi彭孟緝, a four-star General-in-Chief of Taiwan in the early 1960s.
http://museum.mnd.gov.tw/Publish.aspx?cnid=1484&p=12205

The last two photos were taken at the Songshan Airport in Taipei on May 8, 1962, the day Vice Admiral and Mrs. Smoot left Taiwan.
http://nrch.cca.gov.tw/ccahome/search/search_meta.jsp?xml_id=0006455097; 22 November, 2010 23:52
Sarj Bloom said...: Thanks to Victor I can put a date to the photos of Smoots Departure and the change of command. I have some other photos of ROC officers maybe Victor can place a name to them.; 28 November, 2010 08:00
Anonymous said...: That is definitely not peng meng-chi in that photo.; 12 January, 2013 01:07
titojohn said...: The gentleman in question is likely Admiral Ni Yue-Si then Commander ROC Navy. Admiral Ni had a interesting history, as he commanded the ship that brought Chiang Kai-shek from mainland China to Taiwan.; 13 January, 2013 22:00

Overview

The United States Taiwan Defense Command was a sub-unified command which reported directly to the Commander-in-Chief Pacific (CINCPAC). The command was composed of personnel from all branches of the U.S. armed forces and had its headquarters in Taipei.

Operational since November 1, 1955, USTDC was a planning headquarters for the defense of Taiwan and the Pescadores. In the event of hostilities, the Commander, USTDC, would have assumed an operational role and coordinated with the Government of the Republic of China in the defense of Taiwan and the Pescadores. In the event of such a contingency, three existing service commanders would have reported to the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command commander. The 327th Air Division commander would be the air component commander, the Taiwan Patrol Force commander would be the naval component commander, and the Chief of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) would be the Army component commander.

In addition to planning and peacetime responsibilities, the Commander of USTDC was assigned as the Single Senior Military Representative of Commander-in-Chief Pacific (CINCPAC). As such, he served as CINCPAC's single military spokesman on Taiwan -- exclusive of the miliitary assistance program -- and assumed responsibility for coordinating administrative and other policy matters for all U.S. armed forces on Taiwan on behalf of CINCPAC.

After twenty-three years, five months and twenty-six days of operation, the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command held its final flag retreat ceremony during the afternoon of April 26, 1979. Marine SSG D. J. Gemmecke lowered the colors for the last time.

Rear Admiral James P. Linder, the last USTDC Commander, departed Taiwan on April 28, 1979, accompanied by his wife Patricia.

Today there is no trace of the large American military compound on Chung Shan North Road in which USTDC was located. The area now contains a modern art museum, a park and a large sports stadium.

I am not a historian, but I do recognize that history unrecorded is history lost. My objective here is simply to record some of my own experiences as an Air Force enlisted man during my assignment to USTDC from 10 June 1973 until 4 September 1974, and to provide a platform for others to do the same.

Feel free to comment on any of these entries or to e-mail me with your own experiences and photographs. My e-mail address is displayed at the top and bottom of this column, or you can comment on any of my entries by clicking on "Comments" directly under each one.

Don Wiggins
SMSgt (Ret), USAF
Arkansas, USA
USTDC, J-12

Regarding Photographs

To the best of my knowledge, all photographs on this blog are either in the public domain or are displayed with the permission of their owners.

Owned photographs remain the sole property of the individuals who provided them. They are not to be downloaded, copied or reproduced in any form without the expressed written consent of their owners.

Send all requests for consent to me, through the email link at the bottom of this column, and I will pass them along to the owner of the photographs.

If you see any photographs here, past or present, which you believe have been inappropriately posted, contact me at the email address shown at the bottom of this column and they will be removed.

USTDC

Sunday, November 21, 2010

New Photos of Admirals

5 comments:

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