MAAG in the South - A Youngster Remembers

Very little has been written about Kaohsiung and Tsoying, a MAAG assignment for the most part. Today, more information on the area as seen from the perspective of an 8-9 year old girl.....

Christy Veasey, the daughter of SGM Ronald E. Veasey spent 1968-1970 living in the MAAG Compound in Kaohsiung (Tsoying) with her family.  The trip to Taiwan was quite an adventure for a young girl in the 3rd grade.  Christy’s story..

 
 

Christy outside the MAAG Tsoying Housing, circa 1968

When we arrived on island, we stayed at the Diamond Hotel in Taipei for a few days and then took a plane to Tainan where we stayed in a hostel.  Our beds were in the middle of the room and my mother soon discovered, for the first time in her life that lizards could climb walls, inside a house!

We shortly moved into our house and discovered that we had to get a freezer because the supply ship only came once a month to Kaohsiung with groceries.  The freezer was necessary for milk, bread and other things that could be frozen.  The ship also brought things  that my Mom ordered from J.C. Penney and Sears Roebuck as well as regular mail. We always looked forward to the giant pails of Bazooka bubble gum that my Grandpa would send. Our house had grass rugs to keep the snakes from coming inside.  We named two of the lizards Charlie and Lucy.

Monthly Supply ship tied up at Pier 17 in Kaohsiung Harbor.

The Kaohsiung Exchange/Commissary seen on the right, with windows, sat on stilts.

(Ed Note:  Note absolutely sure if this is the PX or the Commissary building) 

L to R - Christy, Ronnie and my Mom Emma on our back patio in Tsoying 

My mother was different than the other women as she did not get into the “Clubby” things women did back then, sewing, bridge, whatever.  She did volunteer at school when the teachers needed her.  She would not hire a maid, but she hired a gardener named Jim.  

I hated green peppers and would pick them and throw them over the cement wall.  Unknowingly, my Dad was picking them up when seeing them on the road.  I did not do that, ever again.  Jim warned us to keep our Maltese dog, “Kou” which we purchased in Tainan, close to our house because “the bad people would get our dog, cook and eat him.”

We had a TV, but not much to see. We did get to see the first man walk on the moon on TV. We played Life, Dominoes, Yahtzee and a lot of games.  I miss those days…

 
We lived on the Naval Compound in Kaohsiung.  Behind our house was the Stephen B. Luce Elementary School which I attended as a third grader.  My parents held me back as they felt I was not mature enough to go into the fourth grade.  So, for the two years my Dad was stationed in Taiwan, I was with the same teacher whose name was Mrs. Tuciano.

In a field adjacent to our school was a small building where the USO would perform as well as where we would go to the movies.  We went to the showing of The Yellow Submarine at a cost of 10 cents per person. Also in that field was an annual event for military personnel and their families which was like a picnic and there was a greasy pig contest as well as a greasy pole contest.

I recall also “going to town," there were rice patties galore and once we got into town there were rickshaws and many, many bicycles.  As we drove over the railroad tracks we came into what I think was Tainan.  I do remember there was a railroad station in the middle of town.  This was also where our Friday and Saturday nights were spent at a club where a lady we called Noodles would be eating her noodles outside every night. 

I grew up in the clubs on the weekends and was used to the club scene.  It was fun to go there.  My Dad and Mom loved to dance.  My Dad used to let me stand on his feet and I would drink Shirley Temples and they would drink 7 & 7’s.  Sometimes we would play Bingo there.  

Another recreation was bowling.  The pins would fall and men would come out from above the pins and set them back up.  The first time a man came down, my Mom thought it was a monkey, because of the small body coming out from the top.

   
Before we came to Taiwan, the wife of the Army MAAG Commander in Kaohsiung wrote a letter to my Mother.  It brings to light eminent hardships we were to have endured, although it was not a hardship to an 8 year old girl.

I found this letter recently, written to my mother before we left for Taiwan.  

I suppose this time in Kaohsiung most likely made me the person I am today.  I have been through adversities that many would not fathom being able to cope with.  I learned to adapt, overcome and keep on pushing….

Here are some photos taken in the Kaohsiung area.

A number of photographs of Christy’s Dad, SGM Veasey, conducting MAAG business follow.

 

Christmas Party - SGM Veasey and Chinese Army Counterpart SGT Smiley

 
Christy and Ronnie with SGT Smiley at Christmas Party

It’s been 40 plus years since the Veasey family lived in Tsoying MAAG  Housing.  

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What has happened to the area?

What a beautiful street, notice the chimneys on the upper left center of the photo.

These homes remind me of the BOT homes in Taipei and Hsinchu.

I am so happy to find these old homes still standing.

This looks like an old Army Parade Field.  In Kaohsiung...

If you'll look again at the previous photo, notice the white reviewing stand in that photo.
Here is the same area as seen from Google Earth.  Notice yellow pin on that reviewing stand.
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If you'd like to look around the area on Google Earth, use these coordinates: 

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22.695081,120.287633 
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Thank you to Scott Ellinger for his time and efforts in furnishing these new photographs.
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Kaohsiung and Tsoying are both still much a mystery in regards to our role in the south of Taiwan.
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Coming up in a few days.. more information from a youngster who lived in the same housing area, whose father was a US Naval Officer working at Tsoying.  

Please e-mail or leave your comments below...