Hi everyone,
Apologies if this has been discussed on the forum before. I’m interested in learning more about the relationship that American soldiers had to Taiwan during and after the Viet Nam/ American War. Any resources and guidance would be appreciated.
Thanks!
cherrieswriter.wordpress.com/20 … -go-on-rr/
I think these are real vets sharing their R&R experiences.
Otherwise there’s the infamous Times magazine article that featured this photo
I remember reading that Chiang baldie went bonkers when he saw that photo. Not because he was angry about such trades tailored made for US soldiers taking R&R existed, Chiang baldie himself got herpes from engaging sex traders in Hong Kong, so he isn’t one to talk about anti-sex trade, but because he thought such things shouldn’t be brought to the public. In fact, it was Chiang himself who ordered to make US R&R soldiers stay as enjoyable as possible.
The sad thing about that photo is that, Corporal Allen Bailey, Marine MP in the photo, was KIA in Vietnam before the article was published.
So, fun fact, this is was my grandpa (sadly he passed away in 2020) this picture hung in our old house for the longest time, my grandma HATED it lol, this is the first time I am seeing it in color so thank you for that.
Ha ha that’s awesome. I bet she did!
So you’re saying it’s wrong that:
Yes I am saying that he was not KIA before this was published. He lived to be a very grumpy old man lol. The best man I have ever known. He passed away Thanksgiving morning of 2020 he was 73 years old
http://www.virtualwall.org/db/BaileyAC01a.htm
You can find his name on the Vietnam war memorial in Washington D.C.
Well this is awkward.
Interesting. Looks the same but the full profile details on the wall link list him as a machine Gunner from Omaha, NE. The above picture; an MP from Cincinnati .
Not sure if it’s related or interesting, but every time I search for books on Taiwan I stumble over this gem:
Taipei After Dark: Blatant Sex Capital of Asia, Where Vice is Legal, And The Price Is Right
Join the author, Andrew, as he takes the reader on a trip through 1969 Taipei to participate in an orgy with Overseas Chinese businessmen, meets the US Senator from Formosa, drinks with Vietnam G.I.s on Zhongshan North Road in the Suzie Wong, attends a lesbian party with New York socialite Miss Harkness, visits a “girlie restaurant” to participate in a raunchy orgy at Nanjing Circle, watches the making of a “blue movie” in a Yangmingshan mansion, meets the “boy soldiers” of British Army Major Sommes in Wan Hua, meets the legendary Madam Chen of the Stella Beauty Parlor where only the political elite like South Vietnam’s Premier Ky are customers, and takes you to a Peitou hot spring to be bathed by an angel. Andrew concludes that Taipei is the number one sex capital in Asia.
Disclaimer: @Andrew or @Andrew0409 likely were not the authors
Then, you might want to correct the obituary where this photo of your grandfather appears under a LCPL Allen C. Bailey of Omaha, NE.
It’s also possible your grandpa was just having a bit of fun saying it was himself. 
This is an interesting thread. I found this article from 1983, detailing that Beitou’s red light district had been “closed down” for a number of years.
Looks like the Allen Bailey who was KIA linked above is not the same Allen Bailey as in the photo.
If I had NT$100 for every wild-eyed older guy in Taiwan who claimed to have been in 'Nam during the late 80s and most of the 90s, I’d have enough for, well, a new phone or, perhaps more realistically, nice ear buds.
Some probably really had been in Vietnam but they were the minority. Others thought they had. Still others used this as a way to cadge a drink and/or implicitly threaten impending violence. Such claims were most common in Tienmu and the Combat Zone but were heard elsewhere too.
It was kind of interesting in the late 2000s when you started meeting people who claimed to have been in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sort of deja vu.
I have met many more vets in Thailand and the Philippines. I think those places were cheaper and more welcoming.
Skepticism is a prerequisite. Don’t believe a word.
Could be unless the details in the Taiwan photo are wrong. Plus the Taiwan photo says he was a corporal but The Wall info says lance corporal which is one lower rank when he died ;of course he could have been demoted for something also or whoever took the picture could have mistaken those details.
My father’s younger brother served in the Army in Vietnam. He’s now 75 years old. When his opportunity came for R&R, I asked him where he went and he replied Hawaii. I asked him why he didn’t go to Thailand or Taiwan instead. He said because it was more important to see his mother, my grandmother, in Hawaii than fuck in Thailand or Taiwan!
Terry Gou for President? - Politics / Taiwan Politics - Forumosa
Both links shared there.
Even on film
Great find on the 26-minute R&R to Taiwan report. Nice seeing all this.
@tommy525 , you recognize any of this maybe?
