I've been looking through your website and came across a list of Chiefs of Staff for USTDC. I was there as a photographer from 1955 to 1956 and remember that Rear Admiral Frank. W. Fenno Jr. was the Chief of Staff under Vice Admiral Stewart H. Ingersoll, the first Commander of USTDC. Since Rear Admiral Fenno is not listed, his picture is attached along with a photo of him shipping over (re-enlisting) four of the photo lab staff in August 1956. Admiral Fenno also played on the TDC softball team.
Until now, I'd shown Air Force Brigadier General Harold Winfield Grant as the first USTDC Chief of Staff, but Bill tells me that he never saw him or heard of him at TDC. I know that RADM Fenno was named as Commander of the Formosa Liaison Center, which became the Formosa Defense Command until the establishment of the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command. Vice Admiral Ingersoll was the first Commander of USTDC and apparently RADM Fenno remained as Chief of Staff. Every TDC Chief of Staff after that was an Air Force officer, most of them Brigadier Generals. I have changed my listing of USTDC Chiefs of Staff to include RADM Fenno.
Many thanks to Bill Masters for helping me sort all this out.
5 comments:
In the shipping over picture, the middle photographer in whites resembles Conrad Golly who was at the TDC photo lab with me in 1959-60. I know that for a couple of the guys there with me it was their second time in the lab. I'm not sure Conrad was one of them. Does Bill remember if Conrad was one of the photographers shipping over?
Stev,
It's a small world. Conrad Golly was a co-worker of mine when I worked for the Border Patrol in San Diego after I retired from the Navy in 1992. Conrad was a big-rig truck driver then. I remember him talking about being stationed in Taiwan. By the way, the guy resembles Conrad.
John Quinn
Just to clear things up a bit, I contacted Bill and he said:
"As best I can remember, the guy in the middle of the shipping over picture is not Conrad Golly. Left to right are Chief Kilburn, Myers, Osborne and Bert. Only Kilburn and Osborne were photographers. The picture was taken in August of 1956."
Thanks for checking it out, Don. John, I'm glad I'm not the only one seeing the resemblance. Don posted a picture of the Photo Lab Staff taken in December 1959 here: http://ustdc.blogspot.com/2008/05/stev-pitchford-ustdc-photo-lab-staff.html. Conrad is in whites on the right end of the front row.
AL MYERS WAS ALSO A 2ND CLASS PHOTOGRAPHER AS WAS I ( RICHARD HARTMAN) wE PURPOSALLY FLUNKED THE 1ST CLASS TEST TOGETHER BY NOT OPENING THE QUESTIONS AND PLAYING TIC TAC TOE WITH THE MULTIPLE CHOICE ANSWER SHEET SO AS NOT TO BE TEMPTED TO REUP. WE LIKED TDC DUTY PRETTY MUCH AS LONG AS HOT SHOT AF OFFICERS STAYED OUT OF OUR HAIR. THE PRETTY & FRIENDLY GIRLS WANTED TO LEARN ENGLISH AND WE LEARNED THEIR CULTURE AND ENJOYED THEIR COMPANY AND THEIR DELIGHT IN OUR SUPPORT AND GIFTS. MET THEIR FAMILIES SOME IN GRASS HUTS ALONG THE SEASHORE.GAVE THEM DIVE MASKS AND SNORKLES WITH LESSON TO USE . tHE MOMS AND POPS SPOKE LITTLE ENGLISH BUT WE MANAGED TO GET ALONG WELL.WE HAD A GREAT CREW AT TDC PHOTO. ACTUALLY 2 CREWS WORKING 2 DIFFERENT 10=12 HOUR SHIFTS. I WANT TO GO BACK AND VISIT BUT THINGS PROBABLY HAVE CHANGED AND THE FRIENDLY ,CAREFREE CULTURE HAS BEEN AMERICANIZED IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN
GREAT JOB DON JUST WISH I COULD FIND THE 1955 GUYS.FUNNY, THE ONLY PROBLEM I HAD WAS THAT WHEN I LEFT I HAD ONLY ONE SET OF WHITES ,1SET OF BLUES AND 1 SET OF KAKIAHS ALL THE REST WERE LIFTED A LITTLE AT A TIME. I HAD NO HATS AND HAD TO BORROW ONE TO GET BACK TO THE STATES.TDC HAD NO REPLACEMENT UNIFORMS ONLY SHIPS IN KELUNG HARBOR HAD THEM AND THAT WAS A LONG TRIP BUT 4 OF US BOUGHT A 1948 STUDEBAKER SO WE DROVE IT TO THE SHIPS ONE TIME.OH BY THE WAY I WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TO ARRIVE IN TIAPEI AND THEY PUT ME IN A DOWNTOWN HOSTEL ON A BUNK BED WITH NETTING AND NO FOOD SUPPLLY. nO EM CLUB OR MESS HALL AT FIRST SO FOUND A HOUSE TO RENT AND ATE COOKIES AND CANNED SARDINES IN TOMATO SAUCE. NEVER ATE SARDINES AGAIN.
TO THE STAES
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