Old Friends

Yesterday I posted a key personnel roster from 1974 that included several individuals at USTDC. Most of the names were familiar to me, since I returned to the States in August of that year.

One name that stood out was LCDR Jay Coupe, who was our Public Affairs officer. He was a really great guy and I remember him as almost always being in a good mood -- a rare trait for Navy officers (kidding...sort of). I believe that my friend Larry Sherman and I "house-sat" for Mister Coupe when he and his wife took a trip to Hong Kong for a few days.

I did a Google search on him and was saddened to learn that he died a couple of years ago and that he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. His obituary in the Washington Post revealed that he was eventually promoted to Captain 0-6 and that he was the Public Affairs officer for the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

A few years ago I made contact with one guy that I knew at TDC -- Larry Driscoll, a Yeoman Second Class who also worked in J-1 -- but lost contact again a few months later. He was a good guy. There were lots of good guys. I hope that life has been kind to all of them.

How about the rest of you? Have you stayed in touch with any of the folks that you worked with in Taipei?

Key Personnel Listing

Les Duffin came through again, this time with a listing of key personnel at the U.S. Embassy, USTDC, MAAG, 327th Air Division and other U.S. activities.

This document was dated 4 October 1974. Click on any page to see a full size version.

Several of the names on the USTDC listing are familiar to me. I had forgotten that there was a big turnover of TDC's senior leadership not long before I departed in August 1974. The previous Commander was VADM Beshany. His Chief of Staff was USAF Brig Gen Burrows, and the J-1 (my boss's boss) was a Navy Captain (0-6), whose name I've since forgotten. He was replaced by USAF Colonel Peters.

More Taiwan Report Pages - Part 3

This completes the chapter in Taiwan Report (Taipei Edition) that covered the history of the country and provided some helpful facts for newcomers.

More Taiwan Report Pages - Part 2

Here's the next installment of the Taiwan Report's History and Facts section:

To be continued...

More Taiwan Report Pages

I've written previously about the Taiwan Report (Taipei Edition), the publication that was mailed to individuals being reassigned to the Taipei area. It was designed to provide newcomers with information to ease their transition into a new job and a new culture.

Beginning today, and continuing for two more days, I'll be posting some pages that describe everything from Taiwan's history and culture to customs, courtesies, and interesting places to visit.

To be continued....

US MAAG-Taiwan

The Republic of China (Taiwan) Ministry of National Defense has published an oral history of the U.S. Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG-Taiwan). In its 342 pages, the book chronicles interviews made with 11 ROC officers and 8 MAAG members.

Though it contains little information specifically about the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command, it does provide insight into the activities of MAAG, through the eyes of those who were there. I was especially interested in the interview with retired ROC Air Force Lt. General Pan Cheng-Hu, in which he described the roles of MAAG and USTDC:

MAAG was for carrying out military assistance policy, while USTDC was for defense operations. Though they were in coordination and communication, MAAG was actually directed by the authority in Washington D.C. Except [for] combat operation, its primary task was to help the ROC military with logistics support, such as material supply and operational training, repair and maintenance of U.S.-supplied equipment.

The book contains a lot of old photographs which, unfortunately, I can't post here because of copyright restrictions.

If you would like to have a copy of this book, send a check for $6.80 to Lloyd Evans at the Taiwan Veterans Badge of Honor Association. The books are free and the check is just to help cover postage and handling costs. Make checks payable to BOHAUSA and mail them to the following address:

BOHAUSA
Attn: Phyllis
125 Lochmoore Court
Winston Salem NC 27127

You do not have be a member of the organization to order a copy of the book. Be sure to specify that you're ordering "US MAAG-Taiwan, An Oral History." Lloyd's original shipment of books from MND has already sold out but he has more coming in, so please be patient.

End of an Era

I don't know what else I can add to this story.

Nostalgia Time

After writing about "The Twist" yesterday (an ancient ceremonial dance designed to cause long-term back and knee injuries), I started thinking about all of the old hits of that era, as well as the everyday things that we enjoyed so much during those times.

I recently came across a couple of unique websites (both created by the same Navy vet) and I thought you might enjoy these journeys down memory lane.

Kick back, turn up your speakers and soak in these wonderful songs and images:

1. From the 1950s
2. From the 1960s

Movie Stars

Sometime in the early sixties, a team from the Combat Camera Group out of Japan arrived in Taipei to make a movie about how young American military people spent their leisure time. I guess they somehow got the idea that leisure time might be spent at one of the local clubs. Hard to believe.

Anyway, Sarj Bloom took these photos while the crew was on location at a bar near the compound. The PH2 in uniform was Sarj's buddy "Zip" Zimmerman, another USTDC photo lab type.

For those of you under the age of 55, that dance move was part of a dance called "The Twist," which was a big hit by Chubby Checker back in the day. You sort of pivoted back and forth on the balls of your feet and...well anyway, we considered it pretty cool as I recall.

Sarj doesn't think that the movie was ever released, so I guess all these folks had to keep their day jobs...or night jobs, as the case may be.

Taiwan Security System

Some time ago I posted a photo from Sarj that showed how broken glass was sometimes embedded in the mortar on top of walls around homes. Here's another shot -- this one from Les -- of another one of those burglar deterrents. I don't know how effective they were, but they certainly looked dangerous enough.

Back in 1963, a friend and I caught a hop to Taipei from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa. That was the first time I'd ever seen these things and the message was pretty clear that burglary just might be a problem. I think they were still around when I returned in 1973.