CCK Hospital Patch

I wrote a few weeks back about how the CCK 6217th USAF Hospital Patch came into being.

Read the story HERE.

Today I received a note from Dr. Lauber:

"I took the wrinkled picture to a graphic designer friend of mine and he reworked it a bit, now it looks new.

I'm in contact with a patch company to produce some for me.  If anyone who was with the hospital might be interested in one for old times sake, they could contact me at prlaub@aol.com

As the price for a small order of patches isn't much different than a larger order, if I can get some interest, I would order 50-100 and they would be about $3.50 and I would mail them at no further charge."

There you go, if you want a nice patch from the old 6217th USAF Hospital, let Dr. Lauber know.

Family Housing for US Military in Taiwan

 Here are two of the old homes a number of our families resided in.  Photo courtesy of Scott Ellinger

I recently received a nice note from a lady in Taipei regarding the old "BOT" Housing.

She is attempting to save a some of these old homes.

There are a number of questions concerning how the Family Housing program ran.

Could you help this lady in this difficult challenge she is undertaking to preserve some of the old structures.

Here are some of the questions that have been raised: Please answer any of them you can,

1.  How did these homes come into existence?

2.  Did the US pay for their construction.

3.  How did BOT become involved?

4.  When you arrived, where did you go to secure a home?

5.  Who maintained the homes list, who determined where you could live, in which homes, in which areas, etc.?

6.  If something was broken, who did you call to fix it, who came to fix it? Was the US Navy involved in any way, shape or form?  Was the PX, NEX or any exchange shop involved in these homes?

7.  I am assuming that an office at HSA or the old MAAG compound, depending on when you were in Taipei, had some dealings with the BOT housing. How did it all fit together?

8,  What was the cost of  your home, was it based on your BAQ and COLA?

9*. (this is special)  Do you have your old Housing paperwork?  Could you send us a copy? You can eliminate your name, etc, from the document.

10.  Anything else you might know about these housing areas, BOT and HSA would help us.

Thank you so much for your consideration, and please send an email or comment below with anything you have on off base housing, no matter where you were assigned in Taiwan.

Housing is a large part of our History in Taiwan, we spent as much or more of our time in some type of housing in Taiwan than we spent at work.

Please leave a Comment below, or email me at TaipeiAirStation@yahoo.com

It's Hot in Taipei

The weather has been hanging HOT in Taipei.  In the 90s F everyday in some parts of the city, it has been registering over 100F in my back porch many days.

It's time to head out of town to the cooler weather at the beach.

If you were stationed in or around Taipei, you probably headed for Camp McCauley Beach where HSA kept things in order and food and lodging was available, or, if you knew of Shihmen, you could drive out there which was a short distance from McCauley and have a beautiful beach that was just about deserted most days.

If you were in Tainan, you could head out to the beach close to the base, which was set up for folks from Tainan. 

No one from CCK has ever written about the beaches in that area.  

Most of the beaches we patronized were generally tied to US facilities in some way.

Let's head for the beach, and don't forget the BBQ and charcoal, and a case of beer?

Camp McCauley Beach, circa 1971. Jump in, cool off...

I found this short, tips on how to cook a great steak, slide show.

Go down the page until you see the 3 steaks laying on brown paper, then click on the right arrow,  

Made me hungry and I picked up a few tips.

Shihmen Beach, circa mid 1960s

Another photo of Shihmen Beach. The sun is strong, notice the shadows.

There were many small, unnoticed, outposts in Taiwan where US military folks were stationed.

Shihmen was one of those places.

I wrote about Shihmen a few years ago, many of you probably were not aware of this spot. 

Here is a link to a really nice assignment a few folks were happy to have, Back in the Day.

Remember the good old days of our times in Taiwan, Ahhhhhhh...


Have a safe and wonderful summer wherever you are in this big world.

Daughter Seeking Father

I received a note from Maria, who was born in Taiwan in 1968, now residing in the US.

She recently discovered that her mother’s husband, who she believed to be her natural father, was not her birth father.

Her mother passed away in 2002 without telling Maria about her natural father.

During the past few months, Maria’s family has come forth with information concerning her natural father.

She believes her father was stationed at CCK during 1966-1968, although the dates could be off somewhat.  He worked in some type of mechanic or engineer shop on the base.
 

 Apparently he was shipped out of CCK prior to her birth.  She understands that her natural father returned to Taiwan sometime after her birth trying to locate her mother, but her mother had married another man.  Maria left Taiwan in 1972 with her mother and new father.

Maria believes her father's name was SSgt James McFarland or McFarlane possibly.

If anyone could help Maria locate her father, please email TaipeiAirStation@yahoo.com and I will coordinate with Maria.

Maria's plight is like many others who have gone done this road.  

Had I been in Maria's shoes, I would also be searching for an unknown parent.  

It's in our spirit, to find where we came from.

Thank you for any help..

Flag Day - June 14th 2011

A DAY THAT OFTEN GOES UNRECOGNIZED BY MOST. 

Flag Day

"O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"
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It's time to remember and reflect on these words.

Speak up, if we don't, who will? 

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...

 

CCK Unit Patches

In a previous post on this blog, I explained that the new CCK Museum wanted to locate copies of each unit patch worn by personnel assigned to Kung Kuan and CCK AB for inclusion in their new museum.

I found a copy of the 6217 USAF Hospital patch someplace on the Internet.

Today I received an email from a physician who was a Flight Surgeon at CCK in the late 1960s.

Here is what he had to say regarding the 6217th USAF Hospital unit patch displayed above:

"Actually this is an unofficial patch. I was a flight surgeon at CCK in 1968-69 and a couple of us flight surgeons were sitting around with a general surgeon one afternoon, and we all felt the hospital should have a patch as all the Tactical Air Squadrons at the base had their own. So we adopted the GNID stamp we had, with the 2 little figures and had a bunch of patches made up for ourselves. I don't know that it was ever made an official patch. Incidentally, the GNID stamp was to put on the charts of those who contracted a case of gonorrhea; the phrase at the bottom translates" penicillin cures." 
..

"The 2 figures on the patch had on their abdomen area the representation of the microscopic organisms that  cause gonorrhea and syphilis, thus the slogan below."   

"As I remember, we got the idea of a hospital patch one day after having a beer drinking contest at the officers club between the various Tactical Air Squadrons and the hospital team, each of them had their own patch.
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The hospital team, of which I was a member, came in second in the contest; besting all but one other entrant."

Editor's Note regarding the patch:  i.e., if someone showed up at the CCK Hospital and was diagnosed with a venereal disease, the record of the sick call visit notation would include a rubber stamp on the form with the likeness of the 2 little fellows in the center of the patch.