Best Taiwan Blog Award 2011

Many thanks to all the readers of this blog who took the time to cast votes in Taiwanderful's 2011 Taiwan Best Blog Awards competition.  For the second year in a row, the USTDC blog won the popular vote in its category and, for the first time, also won the "Peer Judged" category that's voted on by other Taiwan bloggers.

I made fewer blog entries this year, mostly because my wife and I had a very busy year, including our move to a new place.  Things are beginning to return to what passes for normal around here and I'll try to do better in 2012.

This blog has always focused on the personal experiences of those who served in and around USTDC from 1955 to 1979.  I felt it was important to record those memories so that today's youngsters might have a better understanding of who we were and what we did.  I could sure use your help in accomplishing that goal. Though your family members may sometimes tire of hearing your old "war stories" about your time in the Taipei area, I promise that I will not.  Please take a few minutes to jot down those memories and e-mail them to me to share with other readers.  The e-mail address is near the top and bottom of the column to your right.  Be sure to let me know if I may publish your name along with your comments.  If you have any photos of those days, please attach them to your message as well.

I want to wish a very happy new year to my readers here in the States, those in Taiwan, and all those around the world.  I am deeply grateful for each and every one of you.

Still Searching for Connie's Dad

The last post I made here was a couple of months ago when I wrote about Connie, the daughter of a Taiwanese lady and an American serviceman, and of her search for her birth father.  She is fairly sure that her dad was in the Navy.

I withheld a little information in that first post that I'm releasing here today.  I'm hopeful that these additional clues might help.

• Connie was born in Kaohsiung in January, 1967.
• Her mother's name was Sally.

As I said in my earlier post, I have photographs of Sally and the American serviceman but I won't publish those.  Everything I know about this case is contained in these two posts.  If you or anyone you know has any idea who this guy might be, I'll be happy to discuss it privately.  Just e-mail me at the address shown in the column to your right.

As I said earlier, I have no intention of invading anyone's privacy but if there's any chance that this gentleman would like to reach out to his daughter after all these years, I'm certainly willing to help.