Typhoon Gloria - 1963

Sarj has come up with more photos to share. These shots were taken from the USTDC parking lot in front of the building during September 1963 after Typhoon Gloria.

Here is his description of what happened:

This storm stayed outside the island for a week, pounding us with rain, then it came ashore at high tide. As I remember, that was a Friday so we thought that by Monday we would be back to work and all would be well.

Well, it didn't work out that way. The storm stayed stationary over us for days and flooded areas that hadn't flooded for years. We had just got a new 2nd class, P.H. "Zip" Zimmerman, in our lab and I advised him to park his car in the parking lot of the compound. I told him it had never flooded there before and everyone agreed with me. Wouldn't you know this time it did flood and his car was totally submerged.

I just checked and found that Gloria was the sixth largest typhoon to ever hit Taiwan. In 1963 it was the largest ever recorded. It dumped 49.13 inches of rain on the island!

1960 Taipei Map

*** Updated 8 May 2008 ***

This map of Taipei was probably created around 1960 and was provided by Sarj Bloom (USTDC Sept '60 thru Sept '63). As with all images here, just click on it to see an expanded version. The original image is about sixteen inches by thirteen inches. You can view and download the full size image here (43 MB file). Just click on the Download Image bar to the right of the page when you get there.

The map was annotated to show many government and military locations of the time and all of the embassies.

I was pleased to see that USTDC was located pretty close to where I thought it was (see section H2). Note that MAAG was at three different locations: Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Many of you have contributed a great deal of valuable information and photographs since I first launched this blog during July, 2007. This map is a good example of historical information that is just not readily available anywhere else.

Many thanks to Sarj and to all of you!

Name Tags and Badges

This is the USTDC name tag that Sarj Bloom wore while at TDC in 1962-1963. It was made of metal and had pins on the back which held it onto the plastic case. At the top of the case was a slit so that it could be placed over a button on the uniform.








I don't recall that we had special name tags when I was there in 1973-1974, but we did have this USTDC badge that we pinned to one of our breast pockets (right, I think) of our uniforms.

Actually, now that I've thought about it, we may have had a leather backing for this thing that we buttoned to our breast pocket. If anyone knows for sure, please enlighten this aging veteran.

Taiwan Chow Chow Club

Now here's one I never heard about when I was at TDC:

In the early sixties, Sarj Bloom was a member of the TCCC -- Taiwan Chow Chow Club -- which was a group of guys who met once a month at different restaurants in Taipei and consumed massive amounts of good food, along with numerous adult beverages. The group was not restricted to just USTDC personnel, nor was there any rank distinction. Both officers and enlisted personnel could be members of the group.

According to Sarj, the title of Pig of the Month was awarded to the guy who ate the most and who was the sloppiest while doing it. Members wore metal medallions on blue ribbons around their necks.

Displayed here is the TCCC logo and a menu for one of their feasts. Note that it was a ten course meal! Also note the phrase Ta Fun Tung; maybe someone here can translate that for us.

There were fines for not eating fast enough, not finishing a dish, etc. The objective was to win an award and a free meal by being a pig.

Sounds like my kind of organization!

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.

Chinese ID

I remember that my wallet was always way too thick when I was at USTDC because I carried all of my American ID stuff, along with a Chinese ID and Chinese drivers license as well. It seems to me that there was at least one other document, but I don't know what it was. Add to that all of the New Taiwan dollar (NT) notes (at a 40 to 1 ratio in those days, vs. 30 to 1 today), and it made for a cumbersome carry.

Sarj bloom sent me a photo of his Chinese drivers license and ID card, which are shown here. I think by the time I arrived at TDC in 1973, my Chinese drivers license was just a single card, not the several pages that make up this one.

Another Grand Hotel Menu

Lloyd Evans heads an organization called 823 Veterans Badge of Honor Association. It's open to anyone who ever spent time in Taiwan and a group of members travels there every couple of years. Dues are just $5.00 per year. Click on the link for more information if you're interested.

Lloyd recently sent me a photo of another Grand Hotel menu from 1959, so I thought I'd include it here as well.

USTDC Photo Lab

I just received this photo of Sarj Bloom, Photographer 2nd Class, at the USTDC photo lab in the early 1960s. At that time, the photo lab was located in a quonset hut next to the main building.

I don't recall where it was when I arrived in 1973. I don't remember a quonset hut next to the building, but I can't say for sure. Does anyone else recall?

Smoot-Melson Change of Command

Sarj Bloom was a photographer 2nd class stationed at USTDC from 1960 thru 1963. He has offered to share some of the photos that he took during his tour and they'll be showing up here in the weeks ahead.

I just received this one from him that was taken at a change of command ceremony with Vice Admiral Smoot being replaced by Vice Admiral Melson as COMUSTDC. VADM Smoot is at the podium and VADM Melson is to the right.

If you click on the photo to see an expanded version, you can see chalk marks on the pavement where the officers were supposed to stand. I wonder whose job it would have been to make those marks.

Note the corrugated steel awning at the main entrance to the TDC building. By the time I arrived there in 1973, that had been replaced with the concrete awning that's shown at the top of this blog.

Many thanks to Sarj for offering to share his collection!

Grand Hotel

I noticed today that someone on eBay is selling this menu from the Grand Hotel, probably from sometime in the 1960s.

I've wondered if any of the readers here have ever spent a night in the place. If so, how about sharing your experiences with us? At one time, this was the place to stay if you could afford it, though I doubt that it stands out very much in today's Taipei.