THE EARLY YEARS - 1955 to 1960
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REMEMBRANCES OF LINKOU (Det. 1, 6925th RSM) - SHULINKOU 1955 to 1956 Updated 22 Dec 01
Jack Tress's account with photos of life at Shulinkou in 1955 when the base was first established. "I was a brand new 2nd lieutenant, fresh out of OCS, when I was there. Several of the Chinese linguists that were there were in the same class with me at Yale...Re that picture of me standing in the entrance to the tent, that was the BOQ prior to the other metal one that was built in the fall of 1955. You can see the brick floor in the tent. As far as I know, that was the only tent with a brick floor and all of the officers (including myself) layed the bricks." [July 29, 2008] Jack Tress, Lt. Col. USAF (ret.)
Photo by Jack Tress
"GETTING ESTABLISHED" - SHULINKOU 1955 and 1956 Updated 23 Mar 02
Numerous photos and narrative by Al High (1955-56) a 203 linguist. "The first thing we did at Linkou was go to KuLinLin (Linkou village) to get rubber boots which would be the preferred footware for most of our tour. Work was something else, as none of us had any tech training so it was strictly OJT. We were led into OPS and were shown an SP600 and a PT-6 and went from there. Our OPS Officer was Captain George W. Card, "97 pounds of blue twisted steel" - was the way he referred to himself. Our shifts were two days on and two days off. Great for Taipei doings..."
Photo by Al High
ACROSS THE BIG POND - SHULINKOU 1955 to 1956 Added 15 Jan 05 Photo by Jack Tress
Del Sylvester (1955-56): "During the 'early years' of Shulinkou's existence some of the young enlisted men assigned to Formosa thought of their time in Nationalist China as an exotic adventure in the Orient rather than a hardship tour in a place where the Chinese Communists threatened to invade daily. As we left the red mud and horrid living conditions on the "Hill" after 15-months for the USA, we tended to see the country through the eyes of a naive visitor; and, in an idealistic sense, that of a protector.
BOOT CAMP TO THE HILL AND BACK - SHULINKOU 1956 to 1958 Added 16 Nov 07
Recollection of Frank Fredo's memories of Linkou while there from 1956 until his departure and discharge from the Army in 1958. Lots of photos.
On the left is a photo of Frank manning the .50 cal. machine gun emplacement at what was later to be named the Hou Keng installation. The site overlooked the Taiwan Strait and the beaches below where the Chicoms were expected to invade the island.
Photo by Frank Fredo
THE EARLY YEARS - SHULINKOU 1957 to 1959 Updated 08 Mar 03
Photos, history and tales of Linkou's founding years in the mid-1950s. Gary Scorby (1957-58) describes the atmosphere of Shulinkou back then: "Taiwan was a real hot spot in 1958. We were not sure how far the Chicoms would go. By info gathered, they were filling up airfields along the coast of China and making practice bomb runs at Taipei. Also, the Chicom Air Force was conducting air battles almost everyday over the Straits of Taiwan. Broadcasts from Radio Peking were telling us to get off the island because Taiwan was going to be liberated. We were at the point of taking them serious."
Photo by Don Milano
THE EARLIEST OF THE EARLY YEARS - SHULINKOU 1957 Added 29 Mar 01 Photo by Robert Stark
Col. Stark's recount with photos. In April 1957 during the Taiwan Strait conflict Major Robert F. Stark assumed command of Det, 1, 6925th RGM at Shulinkou. His initial appraisal of the site: "Although some so called Chinese quonsets had been built for the airmen who were double-decked...the place looked like a bad dream."
"IHTFP", THE UNTOLD STORY - SHULINKOU 1957 Added 01 Apr 01
"Old-Timers" will recognize the initials, "IHTFP"...and they didn't stand for "In Honest Toil For Peace"...! Read this humorous account with photos by Col. Robert Stark (ret.) of the origins of the "IHTP" key chain carried by many airmen and officers at Linkou in the "Early Days".
Image by Robert Stark
IMAGES OF LINKOU - SHULINKOU 1957 to 1958 Updated 07 Jan 12 / Added 11 Dec 10
Photos by Roger Swift (1957-58). "Because of my time in the P.I. at Clark AB, I spent just 11 months on Taiwan. I left there in Feb. of '58, so that puts me getting there in March of '57, along with Dan Pentacost. Dan and I were classmates in Biloxi and were on the same flight to the P.I. The reason we were picked to go to Taiwan was because on the swing shift that they asked us to volunteer...we told them we would let them know the next day. The next day, the orders to go were posted on the B.B. (bulletin board) with our names on them.
My hometown up until around 1959 was Buckfield, Maine, a rather large farming town of around 1,000 people. Buckfield is about 35 or 40 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, N.W. of Portland, Maine."
Photo by Roger Swift
MAGIC BRICKS AND CHICOM THREAT - SHULINKOU 1957 to 1959 Updated 11 Dec 10 / Added 02 Apr 10
Story and photos by Harry Davis (1957-58). "Over 51 years have passed since I left Taiwan where I was stationed from October 1957 to January 1959 as a Crpyto Operator on Trick 3. Detailed memories have faded with time but I will never forget the time I spent there"
"...1958 was a time of anxiety and unrest for all of us who were stationed on Taiwan. The Chicoms were shelling the offshore islandsand threatening to "liberate" the Nationalist Chinese on Taiwan. We feared an attack was imminent and we really had no chance to survive it. They came up with a list of personnel who were to stay on the "Hill" if we were forced to evacuate and my name was on that list. I thought my life would probably be over before my 21st birthday."
Photo by Harry Davis
"FOUR STAR JOURNAL" CARTOONS - SHULINKOU 1958 to 1960 Added 13 Feb 09
Submitted by EJ Ledet as he describes: "During my tenure (1958-60), we had a "trick paper" which was prepared on 6-ply paper (ah, yes, 6-ply). It was called the FOUR STAR JOURNAL (a-la Trick FOUR, a pun?) and prepared on the mid shifts with dissemination within the trick. The first or cover page was always a cartoon, some on the shady side, which had something to do with a person or event from Trick. I had the foresight to save the original cartoons back in 1960."
Image by EJ Ledet
RANDOM MEMORIES OF LINKOU AND TAIWAN 1958 to 1959 Updated 22 Feb 02
Great story of Roy W. Boylan's account of his Air Force tour at Shu Linkou during the years 1958 and 1959...from finishing language school at Yale, to assignment at Linkou, and through his return to the United States.
A SAILOR'S TOUR OF SHULINKOU - 1959 Added 12 Feb 05
By Ron Crowley USN Shulinkou 1959. "After home leave, Howie and I departed Boston by plane for California, then island-hopped to Honolulu, Wake, Kwajalein, Okinawa and finally Taipei, Taiwan. Our first stop after night arrival was at a hostel next to the Linkou Club on Chung Shan N. Rd. The wooden floor would have been a softer surface to sleep on as the bunk mattresses were like granite!"
Photo by Don Milano
"ALL THE TEA IN CHINA" - SHULINKOU 1961 to 1963 Added 07 Nov 03
A story written by Jeff Kuhn a morse operator on "Bee" Trick at Shu Linkou from 1961 to 1963. Excellent reading for everyone stationed at Shu Linkou regardless of the year...a must read!
"GOODBYE TAIPEI" - 1977 Added 28 Mar 02
A short-story written by Fred Reed and published in "The Times Magazine", April 4, 1977, Army Times Publishing Co. With thanks to Ed Bohannon for submitting it for addition to the Shu Linkou site. Good reading and colorful. "...However, many of Dawg Flight circa 1970 will dispute this writer's idea that you couldn't have a "really" good time in Taipei!"
The majority of the "GAF" Dawgs at Linkou in 1970-71 during the Vietnam War were 18 to 22-year old "first termers" simply serving out their four-year Air Force enlistments and then getting out. The Dawgs remain a tightly bonded group whose friendships have endured back in the "World" long after their Linkou tours ended. More than 40-years later, 117 Dawgs have been located and reunited through this website.
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