History of U.S. Military Assistance to Taiwan -- 1950-1959, Part 1

I recently found a report titled "Selected Aspects of U.S. Military Assistance."  As the title suggests, it was an overview of U.S. military assistance to various nations.  It was prepared by the Historical Division, Joint Secretariat, Joint Chiefs of Staff and was dated 13 December 1961.  It was originally classified Top Secret, but was declassified in 1993.

Part of the document discusses the history of U.S. military assistance to "China (Taiwan)" from 1950-1959, which is the portion I'll be quoting from.  I have always had questions about the sequence of events that led to the formation of the Military Assistance Advisory Group and the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command, as well as the relationship between the two.  While some may find this topic dry and uninteresting, it clears up several of my questions and since this blog is really a historical account of USTDC, I think it's certainly appropriate to include the material here.

With the understanding that some may disagree with some of the account that follows, I am posting it almost entirely as it was written and any comments that I include will be clearly identified as such.  I am including all sources referenced in the report (shown in parentheses and italics).

Introduction

Maj Gen Albert C. Wedemeyer

Major General Albert C. Wedemeyer, who in 1944 succeeded Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell as one of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's chiefs of staff, worked for the remainder of the war to train Chinese ground forces in the use of modern weapons.   In September 1945, Chinese Foreign Minister T.V. Soong discussed with President Harry S.Truman the possibility of postwar American military assistance.  Although President Truman agreed to provide such aid, no United States military mission was established until 20 February 1946.

On that date, the President directed the Secretaries of War and Navy to form a U.S. Military Advisory Group in China.  Composed of an Army and a Navy Advisory Group, this organization was to "...assist and advise the Chinese government in the development of modern armed forces for the fulfillment off those obligations which may devolve upon China under her international agreements, including the United Nations Organization, for the establishment of adequate control over liberated areas in China, including Manchuria and Formosa, and for the maintenance of internal peace and security." (US Department of State, U.S. Relations with China: with Special Reference to the Period 1944-1949 - Department of State, 1949, pp. 339-349, 939.)

In November 1947, the Secretary of State further empowered the head of the Army Advisory Group to advise Chiang Kai-shek on military matters on an "informal and confidential basis."  The United States, however, was unwilling to accept responsibility for the operations and strategic plans of the Chinese Nationalists, for the Military Advisory Group lacked the authority to direct operations or compel the execution of plans.  (Ibid., p. 324).

The Army and Navy Advisory Groups were succeeded on 1 November 1948 by the Joint United States Military Advisory Group -- China.  By the end of the year, however, the Joint Group was recalled.  Chinese Communist forces were mauling the Nationalists so severely that Major General David Barr, who had led the Army Advisory Group, now maintained that "only the active participation of United States troops could effect a remedy." (Ibid., p. 358)

Military Assistance Advisory Group, Taiwan

The inactivation of the Joint U.S. Military Advisory -- China and the retreat of Nationalist forces to the island of Taiwan temporarily ended the American program of military aid to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's government.  Instead, the Chinese hired a small group of retired American officers to assist them.  Official United States aid, however, was soon restored.

The outbreak on 25 June 1950 of the Korean War emphasized the danger to America's Pacific outpost line if Taiwan should fall to the Communists.  President Truman ordered the 7th Fleet to prevent any attack on Taiwan, while simultaneously halting Nationalist air and sea operations against the Communist-held Chinese mainland.  Shortly afterward, both Vice Admiral Arthur D. Struble, commanding the 7th Fleet, and General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief, Far East, visited Taiwan.  Between 5 and 26 August, a joint survey group headed by Army Major General Alonzo Fox studied the state of Chiang's military forces to arrive at a list of equipment and technical support that should be provided to Free China.  As a result of the Fox Report, a military assistance advisory group was dispatched to Taiwan.

The Military Assistance Advisory Group, Taiwan, commanded by Army Major General William C. Chase, was authorized 67 Army, 4 Navy and 63 Air Force personnel.  Under the group's joint headquarters were Army, Navy and Air Force sections.  General Chase arrived at Taipei, Taiwan, on 1 May 1951 to begin carrying out his duties as the military member of a team, which was charged with insuring that all assistance granted the Chinese Nationalists was in furtherance of United States foreign policy.

Senior member of the team was the American Ambassador, who coordinated the activities of the other members, provided them with political advice, and conducted negotiations with the Nationalist government.  The task of coordinating economic affairs fell to the chief of the Economic Cooperation administration mission.  The Chief of the Military Assistance Advisory Group was responsible for directing and coordinating the military aid program and for making appropriate recommendations.

In executing this rather broad directive, the group chief was called upon to perform many tasks, not all of them purely military.  Among these were such tasks as coordinating with the Economic Cooperation Administration mission to insure that the Nationalists did not demand materiel available locally, determining the military needs of the Taiwan government, and assisting it in requesting, storing, maintaining, distributing and using the military equipment provided by the United States.  The group chief's military duties included the standardization of equipment, training methods, and doctrine, cooperation in the development of training programs, the establishment of any necessary American training detachments, and the filing of reports on the Nationalist forces' progress, status of training, and ability to use American equipment.

After its arrival at Taiwan, the advisory group was reorganized and expanded.  The original three Service sections proved inadequate, so a joint technical service section was created as a counterpart to, and for advising, the Nationalist Army's Combined Service Force, which comprised the medical, signal, engineer, ordnance, transportation, chemical, and quartermaster services.  A Headquarters Commandant, on the same level as the four section chiefs, was made responsible for the routine tasks necessary to support the group. Military Assistance Advisory Group officers assisted their counterparts within the Nationalist Ministry of National Defense and the general headquarters.  Special teams were created as needed to provide aid at service schools and in tactical units.

My next blog entry will describe the additional steps that lead to the formation of the United States Taiwan Defense Command and also TDC's evolving relationship with the Military Assistance Advisory Group.

Memories of 1963-64

Bill Amborn was at TDC during 1963-64 and provided this account of Typhoon Gloria:

I was assigned to TDC from the States and arrived as a PFC in the army in late August 1963.  I was billeted at Yangmingshan first.  I took a few snapshots of the TDC compound during Typhoon Gloria as I was in it those few days.  I just ran across the photos which I'd sent to my parents.

Being the new guy in my unit I was one of three of us to stay in the compound in our little office during the typhoon.  The photointerpreters, part of J2, were downstairs and boy, did we get flooded.  As the water started coming up we put sandbags outside the steel door leading out and sat around and played cards.

Later the water began gushing in above the sandbags and we got concerned about the thousands and thousands of maps we had of all of China and started to remove them from the lower shelves and put them up higher.  While we were casually working on this activity we heard a violent snapping sound and saw that the water pressure had bent the door.  Water was coming in like gang busters.  So we started scurrying as fast as we could bringing all the maps and tons of classified stuff upstairs.  The water kept coming up. Then it became obvious we were being weighed down by our fatigues so we stripped to underwear and continued.  Some of the duty people upstairs thought we were mad men.  Then the power went out and we had a few flashlights, etc, by which we kept carrying the equiment and papers upstairs.

In the end, before we had to stop, we were up to our shoulders in that wonderful, muddy water.  We saved everything needed to keep us operating after the clean-up and got the normal thanks for a job well done (nada).

Then the C-rations ran low and we had to go to one of the warehouses to get them.  So we peons stripped down to our scivvies and formed a line of guys to walk wherever we were led.  That way if the first guy fell in a hole or something, the second guy would know where it was.  Like walking in a mine field.  We got our boxes and carried them like you see African ladies carrying items - on our heads - because the water was up to our necks.  And so we traipsed back across.  During the walk back guys started talking about all the poisonous snakes and wondering (a) could snakes swim and (b) what's that over there?

Since stressful situations bring out the best and worst in us, one could expect being stuck in a building for a bit would do just that.  Sure enough, one of the officers was found to be stealing all the C-ration cookies.  That really got some of the guys hot and required some higher rank to assure us cookies would be equitably distributed.

Like everyone who went to Taiwan, I have a ton of memories, but the strongest one still is of walking over the bridge from TDC to Club 63 with Billy Cowan (Air Force) and Larry Dugan (Navy) and Billy telling us that Kennedy had just been shot.

Bill Amborn

8/63-5/64 USTDC

**Updated** 1969 Satellite Photo of Yangmingshan

LTC Scott Ellinger annotated the 1969 satellite image that I posted a couple of days ago to show the locations of the housing areas, the US Naval Hospital and "Quarters A," the home of the Commander, US Taiwan Defense Command (COMUSTDC).

1969 Satellite Photo of Yangmingshan

The author of the TaiwanAirPower.org website sent me a 1969 American CORONA satellite image of the Yangmingshan area that may be helpful for visualizing where things were once located.  Click on the image to view a much larger version.

Formosa Liaison Center

I've been corresponding with Tom Kirkland, retired Air Force tech sergeant, who was in Taipei during 1955-56.  He talked about the "Formosa Liaison Center," which sent me off in search of that unit.  I'm learning quite a lot and will be writing a piece later this week based on some declassified documents I've come across today.

Also, I'm adding RADM Fenno to the list of USTDC Commanders because he commanded the Formosa Liaison, which became the Formosa Defense Command for a few months before being renamed the US Taiwan Defense Command.  I'll go into more detail on that in my next article.

Here's what Tom had to say:

I was assigned to the Formosa Liaison Center/US Taiwan Defense Command from Sept. 1955 to Dec. 1956 as a crypto operator with the Communications watch.  Admiral Fenno was commander until Vice Adm Stuart H. Ingersoll took over in late 1955.  I was detached from the Air Task Force 13th Provisional (FEAF) and BGen. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was the commander.  Once while I was hitch hiking, General Davis  graciously stopped his command vehicle and gave me a lift up to Grass Mountain on his way to his quarters. We conversed about island life and our assignments. I was highly impressed by this extremely knowledgeable leader, and would have enjoyed serving with him. As a 19 year old recruit freshly out of basic/tech school why wouldn't I have been? Little did I know of his WWII ventures.

We had a hostel on top of Grass Mountain (Yangming Shan) which belonged to President Chiang Kai-Shek and was guarded by the Chinese Army. It consisted of a dining hall, and dormitories (open bays) -- not much privacy.

Our supplies came in at Keelung harbor on the USS General Howard. Air Force uniforms were scarce, so we combined US Navy/AF on occasion. We only had a few places we could go during those days:  Club 63, MAAG, Friends of China club, USIS, US Embassy, Lin Kou Air Station, Taipei Air Station, and some limited areas were open to US personnel. I was lucky that I spoke some Mandarin and had a Chinese driver, so I was designated as a courier when messages/mail had to be taken to other units.  Beitou, Sun Moon lake, and some areas of downtown Taipei were often off limits.

We had several typhoons hit the island during my stay, and we would have to strap ourselves to trees outside to crank up generators. We were located by the river, on Chung Shan North Road, just down from the bridge leading to the Grand Hotel.

 I also lived with my girlfriend and family across from the Confucius temple located behind the Taipei zoo. We often visited the temple to observe ceremonies. Chiang Kai-Shek's son used our apartment to take a photo of the temple. He presented me with a copy which he signed.

Since my assignment on Taiwan, I went on to duty in SAC Headquarters, Nebraska; Chelveston England; Patrick AFB (Cape Canaveral) Florida; Wake Island; Anderson AFB, Guam; Scott AFB IL;  Homestead AFB, FL; Udorn Thailand (Laotian territory) and the Presidential Support Mission, Key Biscayne White House, retiring in 1974 at Homestead AFB, FL.  I thoroughly enjoyed my career in the military, having met and served with many famous people, but my duty on Formosa/Taiwan was probably the best!

Yangmingshan Housing Area Today

There has been much discussion here in the past about American military family housing areas, and last week I posted some information about the Bank of Taiwan (BOT) housing area in Yangmingshan.  As I mentioned recently, Jenny Lee and a crew of volunteers are in the process of restoring one of the old buildings there (F209, I believe) to its original design.

Following that article, LTC Scott Ellinger visited the area and took several photographs of some of the old buildings.  You can view them at this Flickr photostream.  Scott sent me this panoramic shot of quarters F202 and F203 that he took a couple of days ago.  Click on the image for more detail.

I just received an e-mail from Dawn Crumly who said that she and her folks lived in F202 during the late-1970s.  Small world, huh?

To make things even more interesting, old friend Les Duffin just sent me a list of names of personnel who resided in some of those quarters during 1977.  His comments are in parentheses.

F100    Brooksher, D. A., BGen, USTDC  (this of course was the AF one-star who was deputy commander)

F104    Carr, R. J., Capt, HSA  (He was the Navy captain who was commander of HSA)

F108    DeMartino, F, Maj, USTDC (AF Major, actually Lt Col by then, Frank DeMartino; I think he was assigned to J-1)

F304B  Groves, J. E., LTC MGCSF (Actually I knew his wife; she was my son’s teacher at Dominican School.  And I’m  not sure what MGCSF means)

F107B  Harmon, W. E. Jr, CW2 USACC

F300A  Kaiser, R. L., 1Lt, 6987ABS/DEM

F103F   Landfair, R. W., Capt, MAAG

F106    McLain, C. L., Col, USACC

F109    Norcross, J. C., Col, USTDC

F201    Phinney, J. L., Col, MAAG

F210    Trask, A. F., Capt, MGNA

F305A  Trosper, J. H., Lt, NAMRU 2

F107a  Wells, J. C., E-8, MAAG

(I’m assuming that numbers like F201 and F210 were single-family dwellings, whereas the ones followed by an “A” or “B” were duplexes.  That was true of the BOT houses in Tien Mu as well; one half was  “A” and the other “B.”)

 If anyone else has photos or memories they'd like to share about family housing in the Taipei area, please contact me:  ustdc [at] yahoo.com.

American Footsteps in Taiwan

The American Institute in Taiwan - Kaohsiung Branch in conjunction with the Sun Yat-sen University American Center will be continuing the "American Footsteps in Southern Taiwan" exhibition in Tainan (please see cut out and weblink to AIT-K). 

This link is to the first exhibition held in Kaohsiung -- http://w5.kcg.gov.tw/khm/exhibit/American-en/index.htm

9/29/2010 - 11/30/2010 - American Footsteps in Southern Taiwan Exhibit In cooperation with the Tainan City Government Culture and Tourism Bureau and the America Center located at National Sun Yat-sen University, AIT Kaohisung Branch Office is pleased to present "American Footsteps in Southern Taiwan" exhibit at the Koxinga Museum located in Tainan from September 29 to November 30. The exhibit features stories of U.S. interaction with southern Taiwan in a key era from 1950-80.

http://www.ait.org.tw and http://kaohsiung.ait.org.tw/en/ (AIT-Taipei and AIT-Kaohsiung webpages will update the announcement soon)

Additionally, AIT-Taipei will be holding the "American Footsteps in Taiwan" (which will encompasses all Taiwan) exhibition from 12/17/2010 to 1/24/2011 in Taipei at the National Library.  More to follow.  AIT will post the announcement on the AIT webpage.

In order to make this event the best it can, LTC Scott J. Ellinger humbly requests support from people who were once stationed in Taiwan to contribute to this exhibition.  The military portion of the exhibition will make up about half of the displays.  Please send old awards, photos, welcome booklets, anything that brings back the memories.

Please contact LTC Ellinger at us_maag_taiwan@yahoo.com

Also, please send copies or photos to me (ustdc@yahoo.com) so that I can share them here at the blog.


Thanks much.


Don

Quarters A

We've had several discussions about Taipei area military housing during the past three years or so.  But there is one house that I don't think I've mentioned previously.  The Commander of USTDC and his family resided in what was called "Quarters A," high above the city.  Jenny Lee asked me about it a few days ago and I started looking around for its location.

Patricia Linder, wife of RADM James Linder, in her book "The Lady and the Tiger," wrote extensively about the place, including many humorous (and also some very serious) events that occurred there during their period of residence from 1977 until early 1980.

LTC Scott Ellinger was kind enough to identify the map coordinates for the former Quarters A (25.133202,121.542799), which I pasted into Google Maps for the images shown below.

This first image shows the location of Quarters A in relation to the HSA compound.  You can see the aircraft symbol at the old airport in this photo, the HSA compound was about two kilometers (by my reckoning) due west of the airport.  Well north of that location, appropriately labeled "A" in this image, is Quarters A.  As always on this blog, you can click on the images to expand them for easier viewing.

Below is a satellite photo of the building as it appears today.  When Pat saw this photo, she immediately recognized it, and said that the white area to the lower left of the house is the pool.  A long porch faces the pool and looks out over Tien Mou.  The house to the left of Quarters A was the South African Embassy with Bill and Renee Praetorious in residence at that time.  She noted that nature is very forgiving because many large trees were destroyed during the typhoon that hit as they were moving into this house.  As you can see, the area seems to have healed nicely since then.

There was also a street view available in Google Maps for this location and here's how it looks from the entrance gate:

Pat told me that the long wall with the little windows visible here is the "insanely slick hall" to the master bed/sitting rooms.  You'll have to read her book to fully appreciate that comment.

Many thanks to Jenny, Scott and Patricia for helping me document this important part of US Taiwan Defense Command history.

U.S. Military Housing Restoration

Today I received this e-mail from Jenny Lee, who resides in what was once one of the U.S. military housing areas.  She and some volunteers are presently working on the restoration of a nearby house in the same area:

I have visited your web blog many, many times.  Since May 2009, I have rented  F205 from the Taiwan bank, and started to find out a lot of things about these houses.  And then, with great courage, I decided to do this:  [Click here for the link to her Picasa album of photographs].

Up to now, most of the work is being done by volunteers.  Why does the bank not maintain them?  It's a long and complicated story.

I wonder who lived in F205, where I live now.  It was remodeled -- nice but lacking the old flavor.  The one I am fixing now is F209, very original.   the family that lived in this house before must have been very happy.  I wish that they still remember this house and come back to see it.

My father was an air traffic controller who worked for Asia Airline.  He was sent to Laos from 1961 to 1972.  I was three years old when I joined him and I lived in Laos for almost 10 years.  The Vietnam War, to me....was a close contact.  Dad's office was located in the airport and sometimes he took me to his work place when he was on  night shift.  If any of you were pilots at the time and have been to Vienjen (capital city of Laos) we might have met.

My best wishes to all of you.

Jenny Lee

 She also provided a link to a very interesting website on the same subject -- Odie's Notebook -- which is about the "Yangmingshan Shanzaihou U.S. Military Housing" area.  I filtered the site through Babel Fish and you can find a rough English translation of it HERE.

I know these photographs will be of great interest to many of the folks here at the blog.  If you have more information about any of these structures, especially units F205 and F209, I'd love to hear from you.

U.S. Lady

In addition to the other materials that Colonel Baker provided, there are these pages from the January, 1962 edition of "US Lady," which I have discovered was a "...service family journal for service wives, families and women in service."

This article gives an overview of Taiwan and describes life for American military families during the early 1960s.  It's not as detailed an account as the MAAG newcomers booklet, but still a very interesting article.  I was fascinated by the ladies' bible study that was regularly held at the home of Mrs. Smoot, the wife of Vice Admiral Roland Smoot, Commander of the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command during 1960-1962.  The study group consisted of both officer and enlisted wives.