What Is This Ribbon?

I received a note from Albert Kinkead, who wrote the following:

My grandfather COL(Ret.) William Kinkead served as a Logistics Officer trainer in the MAAG back in the late 50's early 60's time frame.  I believe he was given an award by the Taiwanese defense forces but I can't locate any info online.  He passed away in 2002 so I cannot ask him about it and I am trying to do as much research as I can.  I have a picture of him getting the award and a picture of what I believe is the ribbon they gave him.  Do you know if the defense forces gave awards to the US Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen who worked in the MAAG?  If so, do you think you may know what it is or where I could find info on it?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I replied to Al that it was not uncommon for American military personnel to receive medals, especially upon completion of their tours.  I'm not familiar with this ribbon or the devices on it, but I thought perhaps someone here might be able to help.  Please let me know if you can identify the ribbon or if you know any of the individuals shown below.

Here are the rest of the photos that Al sent to me:

Receiving the award from MG Wong

Toasting the award

MAJ Harrington, LTC Kinkead, GEN Peng (Chief Taiwanese Armed Forces), COL Walker, CPT Ault

The Team, HM2 Woods, SP4 Milligan, CAPT Ault, PVT Carleton, MAJ Sotter, SP4 Barnett, COL Walker, SP4 Fisker, LTC Kinkead, SP4 Leach, MSGT Sullivan, SP4 Bailey, SSGT Hall

Looking for assistance

I received a note today from Orren Hoopman and he agreed to let me post it here.  If anyone can answer any of his questions, please either comment below or drop me an email and I'll put him in touch with you.

 

 

Greetings,

 

I live in Hualien Taiwan, and have worked for ROCAF at the 401st air base here. I'm the guy who helped Michael Hurst locate his final POW Camp at Karenko, which is currently on the site of a ROC Military Police training base.

 

Am wondering if anyone you know can recognize someone stationed in Taiwan in the EARLY 50s, upon the formation of the USTDC. I know an aging gentleman who served in USAF named Lloyd Ramsey (lives in WA State) who claims to have been here in Taiwan circa 1954.He was the best man at my father's wedding in 1956, and is the husband of my mother's oldest and dearest friend. I cannot get any info from him, as he is sworn to secrecy concerning what he was doing in Taiwan in the 50s, and says he will carry what he knows to his grave.

 

My father, Delbert Hoopman, was USAF stationed in Guam during the same period.I know he was a communications Tech Sergeant on SAC B-36s using the old "Q-code" to transmit, but perhaps he was on B-29s or B-50s before that. He also spent time in Alaska.  Sadly, he died in an airshow plane crash of a home-built Pietenpol (Google the name) back in 1983, prior to my having any interest in Taiwan.

 

Might anyone recognize these names?

 

Also, does anyone have more info on US Military activities on Taiwan PRIOR to the signing of the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty in 1955? As a research exercise, I am curious as to whether or not a "prinicipal-agent occupying force" relationship between the USA and ROC, as initiated under General Order #1, was ever FORMALLY declared.

 

 

Best regards,

Orrin "Colonel FOG" Hoopman

Gypsy Rose Lee Visits US Naval Hospital Taipei - 1969

I received this Stars and Stripes article today from Dr. George Monroe, who worked at the US Naval Hospital in Taipei.  For the youngsters here who have no idea who the great Gypsy Rose Lee was, you can find her biography HERE.

Here are Dr. Monroe's comments, followed by the text of the article:

Don:  I really enjoy & appreciate your USTDC Blog Spot! I was a Pediatrician assigned to the U.S. Navy Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan from 1968-1970.  As you have said, & I thoroughly agree, "The Best Kept Secret in the Air Force".....AND THE NAVY!!!

This may be a "repeat" for your files, but I have attached, below, a copy of the article, in the Stars and Stripes regarding a visit, to the U.S. Navy Hospital, Taipei, by Gypsy Rose Lee, on February 14, 1969.  I was on duty on the Pediatric Ward when Gypsy visited. 

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Gypsy Rose Lee: Taipei US Navy Hospital: February 14, 1969

US Naval Hospital, Taipei: From the Stars & Stripes Military Newspaper Archives: Gypsy Rose Lee a balm for patients at U.S. Naval Hospital on Taiwan  By Andrew Headland Jr., S&S Taiwan bureau chief Pacific edition, Friday, February 14, 1969

 TAIPEI (S&S)--A certain healing process is going on among convalescents at the U. S. Naval Hospital in Taipei which is largely due to a salutary visit made by Gypsy Rose Lee!

Wearing a chic afternoon frock the dazzling 55-year old grandmother, author, dancer, actress and singer swept into the hospital wards Sunday with a bagful of Chinese fortune cookies, handshakes and witticisms.

"Glad to see you are still here. I saw you in Japan, recently," Navy Capt. Charles F. Climie, M.D., Naval Hospital Commanding Officer, greeted his distinguished visitor.

"Oh, yes," replied Gypsy quickly. "I went back home to have my hair bleached and just returned."

Gypsy's stop in Taiwan is being made as part of a USO-sponsored tour of Pacific areas. She previously toured Vietnam, flew in from Thailand late Saturday and was to remain in Taiwan to visit Ching Chuan Kang Air Base (CCK) and other areas before leaving for the United States Tuesday. The star arrived at the Navy Hospital with a suitcase she termed a "dog-carrier" which was plastered with hotel labels from around the world and unmistakably marked "Gypsy Rose Lee Co."Inside was what appeared to be an assortment of odds and ends including Chinese fortune cookies and knitted foot warmers for patients suffering from broken legs."One of the first things you learn in show business — before you start learning the piano — is how to pack," said Gypsy as she searched the depths of the case to eventually come up with a packet of photos which she later autographed and passed out to patients and hospital staff members." Incidentally, this is supposed to be Confucius, but as long as I made the cookies, why should he get the credit?" she quipped as she glided from bed to bed passing out the fortune cookies and occasionally posing on a bed for a picture with a beaming patient.

Her informal, patient-to-patient visits ran something like this: "Now, let's see, what does your fortune read? Oh, I just love this one. It says, "Show me a man with both feet on the ground and I'll show you a man who can't get his pants off." There, that's special for you. I hope you'll have it tattooed on your chest!

After seeing a Polaroid picture of herself and Radioman 2.C. Donnel Shanbeck, a crew member of the Destroyer Escort Davidson, the actress exclaimed, "Oh, this is marvelous, look how handsome we are!"

At another point she remarked, "My, I show an awful lot of leg in that picture, don't I? If they make dresses much shorter we'll be wearing belts next season."

Flipping over a page of Playboy Magazine, she noticed on a table, she told the patients of one ward, "Well, darlings, I would say you were not terribly sick."

Producing a knitted foot warmer, she said, "It may look as though I was expecting an awful lot of broken legs, but I brought 500 of these toe warmers with me on this trip. They are for patients in leg casts. Do you have any patients in casts?"

Only one patient answered the description — little James Heinlein, 6, son of Lt. Col. W. H. Heinlein of Hq. Military Assistance Advisory Group.The actress was a bit upstaged by Jimmy, who explained that he broke his leg falling off a cart.When informed by a nurse that a famous movie star was coming to see him, Jimmy asked, "Who?". "Gypsy Rose Lee."  "I'd rather see the Gimo," Jimmy replied.

Vice Admiral Beshany Plaques

Taipei Scott recently came into possession of a couple of mementos that belonged to Vice Admiral Philip A. Beshany.  VADM Beshany was Commander of the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command from September 1972 to August 1974.   The first is a plaque from GEN Ching Wei-yuan, Commander of Combined Service Forces, to VADM Beshany and the other is from the Philippines Navy Commodore Ruiz to VADM Beshany.

VADM Beshany passed away in December 2011, as I wrote in this article this past February.  He was the eighth Commander of USTDC and I served under him there for all but the last few days of my tour.

Rear Admiral Frank W. Fenno Jr.

I recently received a nice note from Bill Masters, along with a couple of photographs.  He wrote:

I've been looking through your website and came across a list of Chiefs of Staff for USTDC.  I was there as a photographer from 1955 to 1956 and remember that Rear Admiral Frank. W. Fenno Jr. was the Chief of Staff under Vice Admiral Stewart H. Ingersoll, the first Commander of USTDC.  Since Rear Admiral Fenno is not listed, his picture is attached along with a photo of him shipping over (re-enlisting) four of the photo lab staff in August 1956.  Admiral Fenno also played on the TDC softball team.

Until now, I'd shown Air Force Brigadier General Harold Winfield Grant as the first USTDC Chief of Staff, but Bill tells me that he never saw him or heard of him at TDC.  I know that RADM Fenno was named as Commander of the Formosa Liaison Center, which became the Formosa Defense Command until the establishment of the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command.  Vice Admiral Ingersoll was the first Commander of USTDC and apparently RADM Fenno remained as Chief of Staff.  Every TDC Chief of Staff after that was an Air Force officer, most of them Brigadier Generals.  I have changed my listing of USTDC Chiefs of Staff to include RADM Fenno.

Many thanks to Bill Masters for helping me sort all this out. 

GRC-US Authorities on Taiwan - 1974

I recently received a very helpful document from old friend Les Duffin.  Here's what he had to say about it:

"Among the phone books gathering dust in a box in my basement was this interesting document I'd long since forgotten.  It's basically a protocol list produced by TDC showing key U.S. and Chinese officials as of October 1974.  The U.S. authorities beginning on page 11 include sections for the embassy, TDC, MAAG, 327th Air Division and other units."

I really appreciate Les taking the time to scan and forward this document.  There are a lot of names I recognize but a few unfamiliar ones who apparently arrived after I left in August of 1974.


Click on THIS LINK to download the GRC-US Authorities on Taiwan document.

Roster of Taiwan Veterans

Old friend Kent, over at the Taipei Air Station blog, is assembling a listing of all Taiwan veterans.  The listing contains names, locations, year(s) of assignment and current e-mail addresses.  He has already added a few names from the guestbook at his website.

If you'd like to be included, just drop Kent a note at TaipeiAirStation@Yahoo.com with the above information.  The listing will be updated weekly and will be posted at this link.

At last, there will be one central location for looking up old friends you made during your tour in Taiwan.

Army Master Sergeant Peter M. Ayling

It seems that I'm losing a lot of old friends these days, some of whom I haven't seen in decades.  I recently learned of another one, an old friend from the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command.

I knew Pete Ayling at USTDC and I wrote a couple of pieces about him back in 2007, one HERE and another one HERE.  Pete was definitely one of the good guys.  He worked with another friend of mine, Air Force Master Sergeant Larry Sherman, up in J-2.

We all experience life but Pete seemed to devour it.  I don't think I ever saw him saunter anywhere; it just wasn't his style.  I thought I was a pretty fair racquetball player when I arrived in town but I quickly learned that he was a whole lot better.  He was an expert at placing the ball wherever I didn't happen to be at the time and his "dink" shots to the corners were impossible to return.

I remember that Pete and his family didn't live in the American housing areas, choosing instead to experience the culture of Taiwan.  Most of his kids' friends were Chinese and he used to joke that his youngest daughter sometimes refused to speak English.  I can still picture him grinning as he said that and I know he was very proud of his family.

Pete always "knew a guy."  If you were looking for furniture, jade jewelry or anything else in Taipei, he always knew where you should go for the best quality and lowest price and would probably offer to drive you there at breakneck speed in his Volkswagen bus.

I'm not surprised to learn that he had a good life and I'm saddened that he's no longer with us.  Here's his obituary from 2009:

Retired Army Master Sgt. Peter M. Ayling

Sept. 2, 1935 - Feb. 6, 2009

 

Retired Army Master Sgt. Peter M. Ayling, 73, of Sierra Vista, Ariz., passed away Friday, Feb. 6, 2009. He had been a resident of Sierra Vista for 27 years.

 

Pete was born Sept. 2, 1935, to George and Anna (Doughtery) Ayling in Philadelphia, Pa.  A decorated U.S. Army veteran, with two tours of duty in Vietnam, he retired as a master sergeant in 1982 from Fort Huachuca.  Pete continued to serve his country after his military career with a 20-year career in civil service, working with foreign military students.  He traveled much of the globe throughout his life and has friends worldwide.  Pete enjoyed sports and was an avid racquetball player with countless tournament wins in the U.S. and overseas. He was actively involved with the local community to include coaching Little League and refereeing youth soccer.

 

Pete is survived by his loving wife of 48 years, Margaret Ayling; three daughters, Robin, Kimberly and Paige; one son, Pete; one granddaughter, Ashley; one great-granddaughter, Julissa; four sisters, Ann, Evelyn, Claire, Ginny; and four brothers, Clifford, Philip, Nelson and Alan.

 

He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters, Lorraine and June.

 

A graveside service with military honors will be Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2009, at 2 p.m. at the Southern Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 1300 Buffalo Soldier Trail, Sierra Vista.

 

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations be made in Peter and Margaret's name to the American Cancer Society Memorials, c/o Dorothy Kervahn, 1936 Windsor Drive, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635-4876.

Vice Admiral Philip A. Beshany

I just learned of the passing of Vice Admiral Philip A. Beshany this past December.  VADM Beshany was the Commander of USTDC (COMUSTDC) during my time there.  It was his last assignment before retirement and he departed right around the same time I did in August, 1974.

A 1938 graduate of the Naval Academy, Admiral Beshany served in the new light cruiser Philadelphia before going into submarines. After duty in the S-14, he was executive officer of the fleet boat Scamp from 1942 to 1944, participating in seven war patrols. He was then exec of the Quillback during the Okinawa campaign and the occupation of Japan. He later commanded the submarines Billfish, Burrfish, and Amberjack.

Shore tours included postgraduate instruction at Annapolis, repair officer at the submarine base in New London, and duty as head of the prospective commanding officers' course for submarines.  While on the ComSubLant staff, he worked closely with the Navy's first nuclear-powered submarines. After graduation from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Admiral Beshany had a tour as commanding officer of the fleet oiler Salamonie.

He commanded Submarine Squadron 4 in the early 1960s during the transition from diesel to nuclear powered subs, served as chief of staff to Deputy Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet during the tragic period when Thresher was lost, and directed the setting up of facilities for U.S. Polaris submarines in Rota, Spain.

Subsequent duties included a staff position with Commander in Chief, Allied Forces Southern Europe in the mid-1960s and Director of Submarine Warfare during the development phases of the Los Angeles-class attack submarine. In this position Admiral Beshany was in the thick of the ongoing technical versus operational argument being waged within the OpNav staff. His next duty as an amphibious group commander gave him a new appreciation of the importance of this special type of warfare and the complexity of joint exercises.

The 1970s found Admiral Beshany back at the Pentagon, first as Assistant Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Fleet Operations and Readiness) and then during the reorganization of the OpNav staff he was made the first Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Submarine Warfare) over the objections of Admiral Rickover.

VADM Beshany's final tour was as Commander, U.S. Taiwan Defense Command, from he which retired in August, 1974.

His obituary is shown below.

Philip A. Beshany (Age 97), Vice Admiral, US Navy (Ret.) Passed away December 22, 2011 surrounded by his loving family. A true patriot and courageous leader - he embodied the best of the "greatest generation". He will be deeply missed, as he was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend.

After graduation from the Naval Academy in 1938, he served over 42 years as a submariner. He was married for 62 years to his dear wife, Natalie (Gigi) until her death in 2005.

He is survived by his wife of 4 years, Beatrice; daughter, Ann Braniff (Earl Crouch); son, CAPT Philip Beshany, USN (Sunshine); granddaughters, Christy O'Hare (Steve), Stephanie Borchers (LT Jake Borchers, USN), and Madison Beshany; grandson, LCDR Ryan Beshany (Amanda); great grandchildren, Meghan, Luke and Casey O'Hare, and Carter Beshany; stepsons, Ed Gray (Becky), Alan Gray (Betsy), Patrick Gray (Marcie), and Stephen Gray (Liza).

Funeral service will be held at 10:45 a.m., Tuesday, April 3, 2012 in the Ft. Myers Chapel of Arlington National Cemetery followed by interment with full military honors.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Mayo Outpatient Dialysis Center in the Roger Main Building: 4203 Belfort Road, Jacksonville, Florida 32216.

Personnel Officer

I've been sorting through old news articles and found this one from the December 20, 1970 issue of the Ocala (Florida) Star Banner.  It's a standard hometown piece that the military services send to local papers when a resident is assigned to a new unit.  In this case, a First Lieutenant Blackwell was assigned to USTDC as a personnel officer.

What drew my attention was that when I arrived in 1973, there was no personnel officer.  I was the personnel NCO as a tech sergeant, but my boss was Army lieutenant colonel Clay Blanton, who was (as I recall) the Administrative/Personnel Officer and he worked directly for the J-1. My guess is that the personnel officer position was cut as part of the gradual downsizing of TDC during that period.

Incidentally, the lieutenant's father-in-law, Major General Henry W. McMillan, was the Adjutant General of the Florida National Guard.

Chen Family Photos - Part 2

This is the conclusion of yesterday's posting of Chen family photographs.  Many thanks to Scott and to the Chen family for providing these rare images.

As always, if you recognize any of the individuals in these photos, please leave a comment or drop me an email.

Chen Family Photos - Part 1

Scott also sent me several photos from the Chen family.  Major Chen was Commander of the Honor Guard at the time these photos were taken during the early 1960s.   You can see there were many different VIPs, U.S. Generals and Admirals.

More photos will follow tomorrow.

More Kwei Family Photos - Part 3

This concludes this series of Kwei family photographs.  As I said at the beginning, if you can identify any of those who appeared in these photos, please add a comment or send me an email.

These rare photographs document an important period in the relationship between the people of Taiwan and the United States, a time when we stood solidly together to defend against aggression in that part of the world.  Recording the history those times has always been the primary purpose of this blog and I want to again thank Scott and the Kwei family for contributing to this effort.

More Kwei Family Photos - Part 2

This is a continuation of the Kwei family photographs that I began yesterday.  There will be more tomorrow.

More Kwei Family Photos - Part 1

Scott forwarded these Kwei family photos some time ago and I am just now getting around to posting them.  My apologies to Scott and to all those who were kind enough to make them available.

General Kwei was the Naval CNO (even though he was an Army General), then become the Chief of the General Staff in 1954.  He died shortly after taking the CGS post.

Scott doesn't  know who the Admiral was in these photos.  He thinks it may be VADM Struble when he was the 7th Fleet Commander.  These photos were taken when GEN Kwei was the Naval CNO, so the time frame was 1952-1954.

If you have any other information on the individuals who appear in these photos, please leave a comment or drop me an email.