Rules of the Road

Driving in Taiwan was different in many ways from what we were accustomed to in the States.  There were differences with the local laws, of course, but there were also some differences in traditional customs and courtesies on the streets and roads.

To make the transition to a new driving environment a bit easier, the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command and the Military Assistance Advisory Group co-published a guide to driving in Taiwan.  Scott in Taipei recently came into possession of the 1958 version of the guide and has been kind enough to share it with us.  I was especially fascinated by the rates for pedicabs (which were no longer in use when I arrived in Taipei) and the taxi rates.  I believe that the $NT to $US conversion rate was probably the same 40-to-1 ratio in 1958 as when I was there during 1973-74.  I didn't own a car while in Taipei so I often took taxis to wherever I needed to go.

As always, you can click on any of these images to view a larger version.  I'll be converting this document to a single PDF file for downloading in case anyone is interested in having a copy.  When it's ready, it will be posted in the column to your right, in the same area as other PDF files that I've previously made available.

Taipei Transports of the 1960s

Here's another group of photographs from Bill Amborn.  He wrote:

"Here is a small photo collection of ways in which goods and people were moved around in 1963-1965. I was intrigued by how things moved and stationed myself in a spot to photographed whatever came by. The photos were all taken in the same area, probably along Zhongshan Bei Lu. This is more part of the general history of Taiwan than anything to do with the military, a different slice than one might usually encounter.

 

I don’t know how much had changed in the ten years between my tour and yours, but now when I cruise around the roads on Google today, it is just incredible."

I believe I saw most of these methods of transport still being used during 1973-74, though probably far fewer of them than were around ten years earlier.  The exception would be the pedicabs.  I think they had been banned from the streets of Taipei by then.

 

Updated Photo of USTDC Gate

During 2010 I published two photos of the USTDC entrance gate (some called it the back gate).  It was located approximately where the taxi rest area next to the Taipei Fine Arts Museum is located today.  One photo showed the entry gate as it looked when I was there during 1973-74 and the other showed it as it appeared in 1957.  The earlier photo was taken by Charlie Hoppe who was an intelligence officer there during 1955-57.  That earlier post can be found HERE.

Charlie recently loaned a box of his original slides to my buddy Kent Mathieu (Taipei Air Station blog), who has been restoring the images.  He realized that one of them was the same one that I posted in 2010 of the TDC gate.  Kent has done a beautiful job on this.  Here, after more than 50 years in storage, is the restored image as it appeared in 1957.

More Typhoon Gloria Photos from 1963

A couple of years ago, Bill Amborn (formerly at USTDC/J24) sent me some photos that he took of Typhoon Gloria flooding in 1963.  Today he sent me a few more great Typhoon Gloria photos that he recently had developed from some old negatives.  He has annotated each of them for your information.

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.

Historic Preservation of BOT Housing

Kent Mathieu (Taipei Air Station Blog), John Crum (Taipei Signal Army Blog) and I are trying to help a group of folks in the Taipei area who are in the process of preserving and restoring a number of the old Bank of Taiwan (BOT) housing units that were home to many American military families from the 1950s through the 1970s.  Kent has summarized the request by the preservationists and explains how many of you may be able to help them in this effort.

Their idea was to repair and restore these old homes to a semblance of their original condition, maintaining the landscape, foliage and openness of the area.  The area would become a protected “Historical Village” where visitors could see the homes as they looked during the period the US Military resided in them.

These homes are unique.  They were designed and constructed with the idea in mind of replicating a typical home found in  US sub-divisions in the 1950s.  Since our departure in 1979, many of these homes have fallen into disrepair.  Some of them have already been brought back to life.

The courts in Taipei have asked for certain information showing who lived in these homes.  It has been 33 years since these homes were occupied; many folks from Taiwan have forgotten who lived in them.  Can you please help us?   If you resided in any of the homes maintained by the Bank of Taiwan (BOT,)  please send us your information as shown in the document below.  Please E-mail your information to:   TaipeiAirStation@yahoo.com.

The compiled listing will be furnished to the court to confirm that US personnel did live in these homes through the years.  This is a very important, key document, in the effort to save these homes from being destroyed.  Please take a few moments to send your information to Kent.  Everyone associated with the project appreciates your help.  Kent will update as this project proceeds.

You can see what information the courts have asked for, as seen below, in this document.

The Subject line of this Document (In Chinese) reads as follows – Loosely translated:  Data Records from the Taipei City Government, Cultural Department, regarding American Military and Families etc..........

The Headings of the Columns on the Form – loosely translated:

• House Number
• Resident Name and Information
• Residing (Yes) or (No)
• Length of Stay
• Remarks

Please forward your information as shown below:

F203      Martin, Jack  Col USA  MAAG  Yes   1965-1968        No remarks

Please help us with this, if we can furnish enough information, some of the homes will probably be saved.  Our presence in Taiwan will be remembered by those citizens of Taiwan who have no idea we were ever there.  I get mail off and on from college students at NTU who discovered that some of the buildings at the National Taiwan University once housed the US Military.  They had no idea!  

Let us hear from you.

BOT Housing Question

I've written several pieces about the Bank of Taiwan housing that was constructed to house American military families.  If you're interested in reading any of those, just enter "BOT housing" in the search box in the right-hand column.

I know that the Bank of Taiwan was the ROC agency chosen to build and run the housing areas, but I'm wondering who paid for all that construction.  Did the BOT pay for the construction or were United States funds used?  If you have personal knowledge of this subject, or any written documentation, I'd love to hear from you.

Taipei Map ca. 1959

Stev Pitchford sent me a copy of the maps of Taipei and Taiwan that he was given upon his arrival at USTDC in 1959.  As always, you can click on either image to view it in its full size.

I've noticed on this and other maps that there were several foreign embassies shown in the area of the compounds.   I was unaware of any of them when I was there during 1973-74, not that I would have had any direct dealings with them anyway.

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.

Special Forces in Taiwan

Taiwan Scott sent me this photo, along with a page from the 1972 American newspaper in which the photo appeared.

"GREEN BERETS IN TAIWAN -- U.S. Army Special Forces "A Team" poses in front of a Chinese temple in a village in southern Taiwan recently.  The Okinawa-based Green Berets came to Taiwan for a joint Chinese-U.S. disaster relief exercise in a remote mountain valley on the island.  Green Beret veterans from Vietnam have built bridges and laid water lines in cooperation with Nationalist Chinese troops."




******  ADDED ON 3/2/2012  ******

This photo was probably taken on the same day as the above photo.