1958 Quemoy Crisis -- An Oral History

On August 23, 1958, the People's Republic of China unleashed a bombardment against Kinmen (Quemoy) which began the artillery battle that continued until January 7th of the following year. During that time, more than 474,000 artillery shells rained down on Kinmen and its outlying islands. With the assistance of US troops, the ROC armed forces managed to withstand those attacks.

I recently received several copies of the book "The 1958 Quemoy Crisis," published during 2009 by the Ministry of National Defense, Republic of China. The book contains 391 pages of first-hand accounts of some of the personnel (16 ROC and 12 US) who participated in the defense of Quemoy. The book includes numerous photographs of people, places and mementos from that period.

These books retail for NT$400, or about $13.00 each, plus shipping, but I'll be happy to send out copies (US addresses only) for just US $7.00, cash or check, to help cover my costs.  My supply is limited so I can provide just one copy per request and requests will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis.  My goal is simply to place these historical records into as many hands as possible.

If you would like a copy, just send an email to: USTDC[at]yahoo.com.  Include your name and mailing address.  I'll respond with the address for your payment and I'll mail your book within one or two business days.  Allow about ten business days for it to arrive.

Quemoy, Matsu and 8/23

Lloyd Evans, president of the Taiwan Veterans Badge of Honor Association, recently sent me a link to a document that was prepared back in January 1966 for the Defense Department by the Rand Corporation.

It describes the events surrounding the 1958 Taiwan Straits Crisis and provides insight into the decision making process during those events. Many will recall the shelling of the islands by the Communists, the naval blockades, and the dire threats to the United States from both Peking and Moscow.

Fortunately for President Eisenhower, all he had to contend with was possible nuclear war with the Chinese Communists and with Khrushchev's Soviet Union. He wasn't bound by trillions of dollars in Chinese loans as the United States is today and could base his decisions simply on what was best for us and our allies on Taiwan.

It was a scary time and, as with other flash points during the cold war, nobody at the time knew how it might end. You can read or download the document at the Rand Corporation website. Depending on your connection speed, it may take a few minutes to load. Unfortunately, just like the CINCPAC histories that I've been writing about, this is a large (647 page) PDF document that can't be searched for key words. I did find that the author's exhaustive list of sources begins on page 579, so that makes it a little less lengthy -- probably about the size of an average novel.

If you think that a similar crisis could not happen today, then you need to read this article in today's Taipei Times. Despite what seems to be a gradual warming between the Taipei government and the People's Republic, there are now approximately 1,500 missiles aimed at Taiwan, an increase of about 200 missiles within the past year.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

More Kinmen Photos

Back in May I posted several photos from Kinmen, along with some comments about the activities on the island in those days.

Sarj Bloom just sent me four more photos from 1962, all in color. His comments are included:

Here are some more photos of Kinmen taken by PH3 Gallagher who was stationed with me at USTDC. He is the tall thin guy in the first picture. He took these photographs , as you can see by the date stamp, in May 1962.

These are more individuals setting balloons off toward the Mainland as was the thing to do in those days.

Now in this photo I was told that the plane was sent to bring girls and drink for the ROC troops stationed there. You can see a girl exiting the plane with what looks like wine bottles in a basket.

I must have forgotten what this photo is of or what it says. Gallagher must have told me but I just have no idea. Maybe some other who know Chinese can interpret what it says. Maybe it's just Chinese graffiti.