I recently asked for input on the layout of the USTDC building and I received this email from Ed Bunting:
I was assigned to the photo lab in the quonset hut in '57-'58. The building next to it housed a 24" X 24" horizontal copy camera and darkroom. The back of the building had a printing press for our only lithographer's mate. The building behind that was the photo commander's office and a storeroom. The photo interpretation unit and crypto unit was in the basement of the main building. There was another quonset hut off to the left that doesn't show in the photo that was the Seabee unit. That is about all I can remember. I hope it helps.
Ed Bunting (PHG2)
I know that some offices were moved around over the years, but I don't remember the quonset hut when I was there in 1973-74. Does anyone recall if that's true and, if so, where the photo lab was moved to?
Also, I have no memory of a basement in the building. I believe that the photo interpretation guys (Larry and Pete, in my day) were up on the second floor somewhere. Does anyone recall where the basement stairs were?
The party was well underway when the guest arrived at the second floor apartment.He arrived alone, as he always did, but he was grateful for the invitation and the chance to relax with good friends.The other guests, some there with their wives and others with their girlfriends, were helping themselves to the well stocked bar.He opened a can of Budweiser and began to mingle.
The host proudly demonstrated his “magic television” which turned itself on whenever he rattled his keys.He said that the first time it happened was during another party when someone dropped a glass on the tile floor and the TV clicked on all by itself.He’d spent hours experimenting with other noise sources to find one that might also work and the jingling key ring did the trick.The guest supposed it was less expensive than replacing broken glasses, but also thought that it would be simpler to just click the remote.
Someone turned on the stereo.It was an imposing behemoth from the Navy Exchange that fairly rattled the walls. The guests began singing loudly along with the music, mostly stuff from the sixties.Two guys in the room started voicing over the music in the style of Wolfman Jack (bringing you the BIG sound from the BIG town).They weren’t very good but nobody noticed and the other guests cheered them on.
The volume of both stereo and singers increased as the evening wore on and the guest wondered how the neighbors felt about it.He was a bit older than most of the other guests and thought about how he would react if he was one of the neighbors.He decided that he probably wouldn’t handle it well, especially if the partiers were guests in his country.
As the party continued into the night, he decided it was time to slip quietly out the door, catch a taxi and maybe drop by the Club 63 stag bar for a beer before calling it a night.He walked down the stairs, went outside and started up the street to find a cab.
As he walked under the balcony of the apartment where the party was being held, he felt what he first thought were rain drops. Only it wasn’t raining.One of the partiers had decided to relieve himself off the balcony onto the street below.
The guest jumped back under the balcony, out of the line of fire, until the phantom reliever stumbled back into the apartment.He considered going back upstairs but decided to forget about it and hailed a cab.After cranking down both of the backseat windows, he decided to forgo the stag bar and asked the driver to take him straight home…as quickly as possible.
After a long, hot shower (with lots of soap), the guest decided that he’d probably not be attending any more parties until his return to the States.He considered burning his clothes but decided to just have them washed the next day instead.He never mentioned the incident to anyone.
He didn’t realize that throughout his life, this night would be one of the first things he recalled whenever he thought about his fifteen months in Taipei.
Needless to say, he’d have preferred most anything else.
Some time ago I wrote that I was looking for a photo of the USTDC plaques that were presented when individuals departed Taiwan back in the 1970s. I disposed of mine years ago and haven't seen one since.
Retired SCPO Craig Chapman was Boatswain's Mate at TDC during 1975-1977, and he provided this photo of his plaque and presentation case. I don't think the presentation cases were used during 1973-1974 because mine just came in a cardboard box. Hmmm...maybe that was just mine.
Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone knows how long these plaques were presented. They were definitely presented from 1973 through 1977, but what about the years before and after?
I often look at this photo and try to remember what the inside of the building looked like. The photo was probably taken sometime around 1960, and there were a few external changes over the years. For example, I don't remember that quonset hut to the right of the main building, nor the small building next to it when I was at TDC in 1973-74. I know the quonset was once the photo lab but I don't know what the other building was. The long canopy over the entrance was replaced with a permanent overhang, which you can see at the top of this blog.
I know that when I went in the main entrance, the J1's office was immediately to my left. Straight ahead was the Chief's office (BMC Gagne when I was there). It was almost like a ticket window kind of thing. Inside was a counter with a phone and a squawk box that was connected to the flag office. There was a small room behind the Chief's office that had a standard GI bunk for those pulling the watch at night.
If you turned left at the chief's office, there was a long hallway. I rarely went down that hallway, except when I had the watch and had to lower and lock the metal door at the end. I think the downstairs head was down that way but I'm not sure about that.
If you turned right at the chief's office, I believe the comm center was down there on the right. To get to my office (J12), you turned left toward the end of that hallway.
Just to the right of the chief's office was the stairway up to the second floor. My memory says that there were two or three steps up to the first landing, then several steps up to the right to the second landing and then two or three steps to the right again to the second floor.
I've always thought that to get to the flag office you turned left at the top of the stairs, where you had to go through the XO's office to get to either the general's or admiral's offices. But after looking at the photo, I'm wondering if those offices were over the main entrance.
I don't remember much else about the second floor of the building, except that the J-2 acquisition (?) shop was up there somewhere.
Okay, I've probably got most of this all wrong, so here's your chance to straighten me out. If you remember where the offices were located and who was in them, maybe you could draw a floorplan, scan it, and send it in. I know that some of the offices moved around over the years. I think my office was once a classified area. There was a steel door to the outside in the back that could only be opened from the inside.
Today continues the "Holiday From Hell" video about the R&R troops that came to Taipei from Vietnam.
In today's segment, the men arrive in Taipei and receive their instructions on where to go, what to do (and not do) and how to behave. They then head for their hotels and begin to enjoy their time away from Vietnam.
Some time ago I found this article from the Veterans Affairs Commission Executive Yuan, R. O. C., regarding the US Military Recreation Center in Taipei. There were several R&R centers, including Japan, Hong Kong, Hawaii and of course Taiwan. The center in Taipei was closed during 1972 as American troops were leaving Vietnam.
I recently found a documentary on YouTube about the R&R flights out of Vietnam. The film, titled "Holiday From Hell," is in three parts. Today I'm posting part one, which provides some background for the flights and it includes brief interviews with a few American and allied forces prior to their departure for Taipei.
I found this British Pathe' film footage from 1966. The scenes were apparently never used in any of their newsreels and there is no sound, but it contains footage of a number of private and public Chinese new year celebrations that I thought you might find interesting.
I changed up some of the Taiwan blog links listed in the right hand column here, dropping those that were more focused on present day Taiwan politics. I spend enough time grumbling about my own government and decided that reading the daily criticisms of Taiwan's government by Americans who happen to live there was not particularly helpful.
One of the new blogs is called New Hampshire Bushman, which was rated as one of the best (English) Taiwan blogs last year. In a recent piece, the author (MJ Klein) included a short video of a Taiwan trash truck. Does anyone remember if they had these musical wonders when we were there?
I received some comments and photographs from Les D. regarding the recent discussion here about the Hsin Sheng Theater:
Since that film clip of Taipei in the 60s caused a few comments about the Hsin Sheng Theater, I thought I’d dig through my old slides and see if I could find some photos of it.
The first three shots were taken sometime between 1962 and 1966, probably closer to the earlier date than the latter. They proceed south along hagglers’ row. Notice the pedicab in the one shot, and the general lack of traffic. The Hsin Sheng Theater is the building on the left in the third photo, surrounded by bamboo scaffolding.
[The next two] are pics of the theater, though the train in the last was obviously my focus.
The last pair of photos were taken between 1971 and 1978. The first one shows hagglers’ row from the opposite direction and with much more traffic. The second one was taken after the overhead walkway was built across the railroad tracks and shows the theater in the right center.
