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.

West Compound 1958

Here's another clip from 1958 showing the dispensary in the west compound.  Click HERE to watch the short video.  Notice the sign in this photo from the clip.  It was straight ahead from the west compound entrance and near the back of the compound.  It displayed different things over the years, but the sign itself remained, probably until the compounds were destroyed.

That brings up another question that I've had for some time.  Does anyone happen to know when the east and west compounds, along with the USTDC building, were demolished?

**Updated** 1969 Satellite Photo of Yangmingshan

LTC Scott Ellinger annotated the 1969 satellite image that I posted a couple of days ago to show the locations of the housing areas, the US Naval Hospital and "Quarters A," the home of the Commander, US Taiwan Defense Command (COMUSTDC).

Auto Insurance Applied

I wrote a piece a few days ago about auto insurance and how it was handled for American military people in Taipei.  In response to that, I received a note from a guy who was in Taipei during the 1960s.  He described an unusual accident that he was involved in and how things sort of went downhill from there.

I only had one occasion to use my insurance while in Taiwan. I was visiting a friend and his wife at their home. The street was very narrow, as most were in those days, and it was also a dead-end.  There was no room to even turn the car around, especially at night when you couldn’t see because there were no street lights. Upon leaving, my friend said I had no choice but to back up to the main street and stay to the one side away from the houses where the benjo ditch was.

With my wife watching the ditch side, I slowly backed out toward the main street. About half way to the cross-street I felt a bump and not knowing what it was I pulled forward, felt another bump, and then heard someone scream in pain.

My first thought was that someone had thrown himself under my car. It was near Chinese New Year and we had all heard stories of nationals doing this to collect money and not enter the New Year in debt. Americans passed this story around but I don’t know if there was any truth to it.

My wife and I got out of the car, with a flashlight, to see what had happened. Half way in the street was a man in a chair who I guess had been napping. I’ll never know if he did this on purpose or not. Very soon after, another man appeared and was shouting something in Chinese. I could his leg was broken but it was too dark to see a lot.

I told my Chinese wife to tell them to hurry into the car and I would take him to the hospital. He got into the car along with his friend who later I found out was his brother-in-law. The brother-in-law was shouting a lot of stuff at my wife. I’m probably glad I didn’t understand it. I’m sure it would have angered me.  Finally with translation from my wife I was told the brother-in-law insisted we go to the Chinese police before going to the hospital.  Even as I drove to the nearest one (as I remember it was on the corner of Nan King E Rd and some other road) I tried to argue that it was best to go to the hospital first.  He wouldn’t have it so I went to the Police station.


As soon as the brother-in-law finished with the police he got back in the car and asked to go to the hospital.  I was quite upset with him and told him, "No.  Now we will go to my police."  So although he talked all the way I went to the Provost Marshal in the compound and reported to them what had happened and then went to the hospital.

Inside the hospital they just laid the guy on the floor in the hallway along with all the other people who were laying and sitting there up against the wall.  I went to the admittance window and showed them all my IDs, including my insurance card.   I insisted they put him in a room, but to no avail. I guess I thought I was different -- maybe somewhat entitled? Because I had insurance and was able to pay, I thought I would get special treatment, or rather the injured man would get better treatment. Well, it didn’t work out that way and I finally said goodbye to all and left. It was a very strange evening full of confusion and made me wonder about the differences in our cultures.

This all happened on a Friday evening and when I got to work on Monday my friend told me “Thanks a lot buddy. The neighborhood is picketing my house now with signs saying 'Go home Yankee', and asking me for money to help the family since the guy can’t work now." I told him what had happened because we were far enough away from his house when it happened that he didn’t know anything. He said it was the brother-in-law who approached him about money and came by daily until my friend told him to stay away or else.

Thinking back now I wonder how the guy knew that I was at my friend's house.   I guess I’ll never know, and I’ll also never know if the Insurance paid for his hospital bills etc.

*** ADDED ***

Old friend Kent Mathieu reminded me that back in December 2007 I posted an account of his experience with Taiwan Fire and Marine Insurance when he wrecked his 1965 Mustang.  

It still breaks my heart when I think about that poor Mustang!

New Info on Naval Hospital and Other Landmarks

Back in January 2008, I posted a short article about the Naval Hospital in Taipei.  Basically I said that I vaguely remembered it but couldn't remember where it was.  During the following weeks and months, several people sent me much more information and some photographs that I posted in later articles.  Toward the bottom of the right-hand column here, you'll find a section titled "Topics."  Scroll down and click on "Medical" and you should pick up most of I've written on the subject.

Today, Gene Abernathy made a comment to that original post regarding a much earlier period. He wrote:

The Hospital that served all the military in 1955-1959 to the best of my recollection was the MAAG hospital in the MAAG compound off of Chung Shan Pei Lo. Don't recall any other Hospital in the area at the time. Believe they contemplated moving the MAAG Hospital shortly after one of the typhoons flooded it pretty bad. Went back to Taiwan a couple of years ago and attempted to locate the command where I was stationed. It was COMSEVENTFLT Staff Det. Alfa, Joint Operations Center (JOC). It was located about a 1/4 of a mile past the old 13th AF Base Out a long way via Roosevelt Rd (which was a dirt road at the time). If anyone can offer a coordinate for google world check I would appreciate. I might add, the first club 63 was also on the compound and moved to Pei An Rd (below the Grand Hotel) in 57 I believe.
The O Club was a little ways outside the gate of the MAAG Compound up on Chung Shan Pei Rd. across from Hostel 2. Fond memories of different times. I completed 30 years of Naval Service in 1981 and my memories have always taken me back to the best duty station I had in Taiwan. Best, Gene Abernathy

If anyone can add anything to this, please leave a comment or drop me an email.  As always, I'd love to post any photos that may have survived the years.

Tien Mou in 1984, Part 1

A couple of weeks ago I posted a request from a woman who was in Taipei for a short time and wanted to visit Tien Mou, where she lived as a military dependent from 1969 to 1971.  She received several helpful tips from readers and was able to locate the area where she and many other military families once resided.

In response to her request, Les sent me several photographs that he took of the area during a visit to Taiwan in 1984.  Much had changed by then and of course there have been more significant changes since then, but I thought that the photos might be of interest to many here.  They capture Tien Mou as it appeared approximately five years after the departure of American military families.

Because there are many photos in this collection, I intend to post them over a three day period.  The first two today show the general area, including the Mongolian Barbecue.  Photos three through six are of the west side of the street where the Japanese school now stands.

 

 

 

 

New Naval Hospital Images

About a year ago I posted a photograph from the 1970s of the main parking lot at the Naval Hospital in Taipei.

Victor recently sent me these images of the hospital that he believes are from around 1979, shortly after the U.S. withdrawal. In the first one he circled the hospital complex itself (to the right, in green).

In the second, he circled in red the hospital parking lot that was shown in my post from last year. Just below that is the baseball field, circled in blue. The large yellow square encloses the Veterans General Hospital complex.

You can see what that area looks like today on Google Maps. Just click on this link and you'll find that some tennis courts and parts of some buildings are approximately where the hospital parking lot used to be. You can also use Street View to see the neighborhood at street level. The tennis court fences are on the right side and are covered so you can't see the courts themselves.

Like most everything else in Taipei, very little looks as it did when I was there.

Taiwan Report - Chapter 13

I thought I had posted all the chapters of the Taiwan Report over the past several months, but I apparently missed chapter 13, which had to do with stores, restaurants and health precautions. Those pages are shown below. As always, you can click on any of the pages to see a larger version.

Taiwan Report was the publication we mailed out to those being assigned to USTDC and other military units in the Taipei area. The publication date was 1973, and if there were earlier or later editions I'm not aware of them.

Within the next day or two I plan to post an index to all of the chapters in the booklet.

SOFA, Customs and Identification

These pages are from Chapter 5 of "Taiwan Report," the 1973 publication that was mailed to incoming personnel. Click on any of the images for a larger version.

This chapter discusses the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which is an agreement between a country and a foreign nation stationing military forces in that country. Most nations that have military personnel stationed in other countries have these agreements.

Also discussed in this chapter are customs rules and identification requirements for military personnel who were stationed in Taiwan.




I just remembered that my wallet seemed pretty thick in those days. With all of those identification cards and maybe a couple of hundred $NT, it's no wonder!

Veterinary Medicine in Taipei

Sarj submitted this a couple of days ago:

Here is a vaccination record for our dog "Lady," a cocker spaniel that is shown in the photo in the blog entry about American Village. [Photo also added below - Don]

There are three reason why I sent this:

1. As a reminder that National Taiwan University was the source for vaccinations.
   
   
2. I used to go there and play basketball with students. I didn't need to speak the language because we spoke basketball! They had nice outdoor courts and it reminded me of back in the States.
   
   
3. The University was the only place you could get an American ice cream cone.

Naval Hospital

The photograph pretty much says it all. This is where you went for medical diagnoses, treatments, and shots for various conditions.

Anyone care to guess the year of that red VW Beetle? I owned a 1966, model 1300, which I think this one could be also.

Navy Hospital Photo?

**** UPDATE ****

Kent just reminded me where I saw that navy hospital photo. It's an official ROC historical photo at a website that reader Misty pointed out recently. You can find it here.

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Someone has asked for a photo of the navy hospital in Taipei. I could have sworn that someone sent one to me some time ago, but I can't locate it anywhere. If anyone out there has one, please email it to me and I'll post it here.

Thanks!

Don

Taiwan Travel Tips

This is a bit off-topic, but I stumbled across Ken Berglund's blog today. Ken is an American school teacher in Taiwan who is returning to the States in a few days after four years in-country. In his most recent article, called Taiwan Survival Guide - Ten Tips To Help You Survive, he discusses different things that you should have, or do, before going to Taiwan. I thought it might be interesting reading, especially for those contemplating a visit.

One item that he mentioned was the importance of bringing plenty of over-the-counter drugs, such as aspirin, which he says are not easy to find there. We military types didn't have to worry about such things, since whatever we needed was usually available at the Navy Exchange.

I was a little surprised to find that the water still isn't safe to drink.

Historical Photos

I'm sure that not everyone reads all of the follow-up comments to my posts, so some may may have missed Misty's follow-up to my Historic Preservation post.

There's a website owned by the Taiwan Government Information Office that has a lot of old photographs, including some of the naval hospital, American housing and the MAAG compound. I think these are probably all from the 1950s or early 1960s but they make for interesting viewing. Check them out.

Naval Hospital Taipei

Somebody recently mentioned the Naval Hospital and I've been trying remember where it was located. I vaguely remember going there for immunizations and I think I may have gone there on one or two other occasions, but I can't even picture the place. The name NAMRU-2 seems to ring a bell for some reason.

Does anyone out there remember where it was?