USTDC

Photo of USTDC courtesy of Les Duffin

Monday, November 10, 2008

Open Messes and Other Clubs - Part 1

Here are more pages from Taiwan Report, the booklet that was mailed to personnel being assigned to USTDC and other units in the Taipei area. This edition was printed during fiscal year 1973.

Today and tomorrow will be Chapter Nine, which describes the military clubs and social organizations available to military personnel and their families. The Club 63 became the China Seas Club when the Navy took over its operation. Kent, the guy who has the Taipei Air Station website and blog (links are in the right-hand column) was a manager at the MAAG Officer's Club while he was stationed at TAS.

As always, just click on any image to see a larger version.

11 comments:

Sarj Bloom said...

I remember the wives at Club 63 being called "MAAG PIES" I don't know if this was wives of the officers or enlisted. I do remember seeing it published or on a bulletin board mentioning their meeting times.
Of course everyone know what a Magpie is, right?

Anonymous said...

What memories....

Sitting with my buddy YN3 Jones enjoying a pizza and a bottle or two of Mateus Rose wine. Sweet Portuguese wine popular in the 60's. In fact going out this coming weekend to buy a bottle to celebrate. What memories! Linkou Annex also had a great pizza. It's amazing what one can remember from back then!

Don said...

I remember Mateus Rose. Really sweet. Came in those cute bottles.

Actually I mostly remember some really nasty hangovers.

I don't remember the pizza at the Linkou Annex, but I do remember the greasy fried chicken and fries...to go...at the end of an evening. *Urp*

titojohn said...

I remember during the early 60’s the Club 63 had “Stag Night.” All male members (don’t remember any female active duty stationed in Taiwan then) were treated to free surf and turf, 10 cent drinks all night long. The highlight of the evening was a very, very risqué floor show. The waitresses were herded out of the main dining area during the floor show. This lascivious floor show went on for several years until one of the admiral’s or general’s wives got wind of the floor show, and it was no more. Ahhhh, those were the days!
Do any of you old timers remember Rudy Arevalo and his band at the Club 63? They were great!

Don said...

Titojohn, I posted some photos of the club and the band last December. You can either do a search (in the box at the top-left of this page) for Club 63 or you can just type this into your browser: http://ustdc.blogspot.com/2007/12/club-63.html.

There are pictures of Rudy and the band. I thought it was "Conrad and his Band," but I think that must have been at the Airmen's Club during my time at Kadena AB, Okinawa, back in 1963-1964.

Anonymous said...

Where was the MAAG Officer's Open Mess located? Was it on Chung Shan Bei Lu?

I remember it had an huge tropical fish tank in the lobby and that's about it.

The Club 63 drawing is quite interesting because it is very similar to what it looks like now.

Anonymous said...

Misty,

I believe the MAAGOOMT was located a block or two just north of and on the same side of the street as the HSA West Compound on Chung Shan N. Road.

titojohn said...

Thanks Don, somehow I managed to miss those pictures the first time around. Looking at the pictures of the Rudy Arevelo band, I recognize a few of the band members.

Les Halfhill said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I'm trying to locate the Taipei USOOMT on Google Earth. My dad ran the mess around 1960 and for a year our family lived in what was called MAAGVILLE just across the street, before moving to Tienmu (sp?). My sister has a couple of the Paul Kuo books, one of which has a page or two announcing the opening of the remodelled mess. I also sent her my old picture of the club, taken from a helicopter, just after the remodel.

Richard Weichal said...

I was a Nite Manager of the MAAG "O Club" in 1979. My day job was at USTDC. Best year of my 21 year military career. (Choker)