Didn't there used to be an actual VFW up near Tienmu? I don't mean in the 70s, but in the late 90s? It may not have been a VF -- but I seem to remember going there for Thanksgiving one time with some of the other hostel inmates.
Yes, there were two active clubs (American Legion and VFW) both with separate bars/restaurants. They sort of consolidated in the early 1990s into the Post Home in Tien Mu. I hung out there when I arrived in 1997 and it was mostly Vietnam Vets and US guys on contract via US defense contractors based in Taiwan. There was one guy who served in the US Embassy in China in the late 40s as a Marine, then got out only to end up in the Army in the Korean War. His name was Edd Clark. He later became a journalist and worked at GIO during the Cold War. Died in the early 2010s I think. He had also served in Vietnam as a press handler for the US govt. Details are foggy. There was also Ed Possneck, the VP of This Month in Taiwan, who died about 10 years ago. He was in the Korean War via the Navy, but did not see action. Possnecke was a nice old guy when I met him in 97, but he was known in the early days as a major asshole, ending up getting the crap kicked out of him more than once in the Combat Zone bar district. I remember a guy working for Raytheon pounded on him when let loose about the guy's Taiwan girlfriend being a whore. She was not...but he loved to tease new folks in Taiwan. The Raytheon guy was part of the Patriot PAC-2 program. More than one person told me horror stories of his debauchery. I saw a little bit of his mouthiness, offensive drunk lewd comments, but nothing physical except the Raytheon guy. He had a black eye also about five years after that incident, but wouldn't say why...
Didn't there used to be an actual VFW up near Tienmu? I don't mean in the 70s, but in the late 90s? It may not have been a VF -- but I seem to remember going there for Thanksgiving one time with some of the other hostel inmates.
Yes, there were two active clubs (American Legion and VFW) both with separate bars/restaurants. They sort of consolidated in the early 1990s into the Post Home in Tien Mu. I hung out there when I arrived in 1997 and it was mostly Vietnam Vets and US guys on contract via US defense contractors based in Taiwan. There was one guy who served in the US Embassy in China in the late 40s as a Marine, then got out only to end up in the Army in the Korean War. His name was Edd Clark. He later became a journalist and worked at GIO during the Cold War. Died in the early 2010s I think. He had also served in Vietnam as a press handler for the US govt. Details are foggy. There was also Ed Possneck, the VP of This Month in Taiwan, who died about 10 years ago. He was in the Korean War via the Navy, but did not see action. Possnecke was a nice old guy when I met him in 97, but he was known in the early days as a major asshole, ending up getting the crap kicked out of him more than once in the Combat Zone bar district. I remember a guy working for Raytheon pounded on him when let loose about the guy's Taiwan girlfriend being a whore. She was not...but he loved to tease new folks in Taiwan. The Raytheon guy was part of the Patriot PAC-2 program. More than one person told me horror stories of his debauchery. I saw a little bit of his mouthiness, offensive drunk lewd comments, but nothing physical except the Raytheon guy. He had a black eye also about five years after that incident, but wouldn't say why...