US Taiwan Defense Command: Taipei Area Sports Car Club

Friday, July 31, 2009

Taipei Area Sports Car Club

I wrote a piece back in February, 2008, about the Taipei Area Sports Car Club (TASCC). Jim Sartor and a group of friends started the club in 1971. It was still active during 1973-74 when I was there and my office mate John Cranford was a member. He had a 240Z and invited me to ride with him one weekend to see him compete in a rally.

I recently came across several old reels of 8MM film in a box in the closet. I knew what was on a couple of them, but the rest were a mystery. I decided to just have them all converted to DVD and much to my surprise, I found a short snippet of John and his Z throwing Taiwan dust in all directions as he maneuvered through the course. I don't recall where this rally was being held but it seems to me that we flew through at least a village or two to get there.

At the very beginning of this short clip, there are just a couple of seconds of a jet flying overhead. I've mentioned several times previously in this blog about how low (and LOUD!) those jets were as they flew over my room at the hostel. Of course there's no sound on this clip, but you can see how low they flew over my room. Cathay Pacific was the absolute worst!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Good grief! Didn't know any of these pix survived. This clip is of the TASCC at play on weekends in an open area just outside Shu Linkou itself. We'd drive up the mountain, set up a different course every time, using traffic cones to determine the shape.

Was hilarious watching the Taiwan military guards who had never seen anything like what we were doing?

Always wondered what they thought of those "Crazy Americans" racing around in the dirt with their new
sports cars.

Thanks for the memories!!

Jim Sartor; 01 August, 2009 10:02

Overview

The United States Taiwan Defense Command was a sub-unified command which reported directly to the Commander-in-Chief Pacific (CINCPAC). The command was composed of personnel from all branches of the U.S. armed forces and had its headquarters in Taipei.

Operational since November 1, 1955, USTDC was a planning headquarters for the defense of Taiwan and the Pescadores. In the event of hostilities, the Commander, USTDC, would have assumed an operational role and coordinated with the Government of the Republic of China in the defense of Taiwan and the Pescadores. In the event of such a contingency, three existing service commanders would have reported to the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command commander. The 327th Air Division commander would be the air component commander, the Taiwan Patrol Force commander would be the naval component commander, and the Chief of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG) would be the Army component commander.

In addition to planning and peacetime responsibilities, the Commander of USTDC was assigned as the Single Senior Military Representative of Commander-in-Chief Pacific (CINCPAC). As such, he served as CINCPAC's single military spokesman on Taiwan -- exclusive of the miliitary assistance program -- and assumed responsibility for coordinating administrative and other policy matters for all U.S. armed forces on Taiwan on behalf of CINCPAC.

After twenty-three years, five months and twenty-six days of operation, the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command held its final flag retreat ceremony during the afternoon of April 26, 1979. Marine SSG D. J. Gemmecke lowered the colors for the last time.

Rear Admiral James P. Linder, the last USTDC Commander, departed Taiwan on April 28, 1979, accompanied by his wife Patricia.

Today there is no trace of the large American military compound on Chung Shan North Road in which USTDC was located. The area now contains a modern art museum, a park and a large sports stadium.

I am not a historian, but I do recognize that history unrecorded is history lost. My objective here is simply to record some of my own experiences as an Air Force enlisted man during my assignment to USTDC from 10 June 1973 until 4 September 1974, and to provide a platform for others to do the same.

Feel free to comment on any of these entries or to e-mail me with your own experiences and photographs. My e-mail address is displayed at the top and bottom of this column, or you can comment on any of my entries by clicking on "Comments" directly under each one.

Don Wiggins
SMSgt (Ret), USAF
Arkansas, USA
USTDC, J-12

Regarding Photographs

To the best of my knowledge, all photographs on this blog are either in the public domain or are displayed with the permission of their owners.

Owned photographs remain the sole property of the individuals who provided them. They are not to be downloaded, copied or reproduced in any form without the expressed written consent of their owners.

Send all requests for consent to me, through the email link at the bottom of this column, and I will pass them along to the owner of the photographs.

If you see any photographs here, past or present, which you believe have been inappropriately posted, contact me at the email address shown at the bottom of this column and they will be removed.

USTDC

Friday, July 31, 2009

Taipei Area Sports Car Club

1 comment:

Taipei

US Central Time Zone