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TAIPEI AIR STATION |
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Slim, standing by the freshly washed Chevrolet Carryall he drove, parked in front of the Rayle carport, ca. March 1959. It has the look of a ‘57, but maybe it’s an earlier model. The van was for use of MAAG people for special trips. Slim was a combat veteran with shrapnel wounds to his legs he said he got as a frogman on a mission on the Chinese mainland. He was energetic, an animated talker, and was proud of the fact that his hard driving would wear out the voltage regulator in the charging system of the van. The house in the background, across the intersection from the Rayle residence, was the home of Air Force F-86 pilot Norm Stevens. |
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Son Brian at the compound swimming pool, nine feet at it’s deepest. The concrete water tower provided non-potable water for the compound. After a long rain, the bathtub water faucet would provide dirty red-orange water with an occasional inch long water bug. The swimming pool water was kept clean. Two lifeguards, looks like they were more than enough. The pool was constructed in perhaps 1958 with manual labor using digging hoes and bamboo baskets slung on bamboo shoulder poles to carry away the dirt. Here again, providing employment for men of the area. |
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Diana and Dorothy at the south corner of the main pool. Behind you can see a wading pool. Behind Dorothy is a room that was used for meetings of Troop 97 Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and Brownies. There was fear that there could be a disorderly evacuation if the ChiComs invaded Taiwan during the Quemoy-Matsu Crisis (mid 1958.) The pool area was one of the places that an Army NCO gave the kids martial arts training, although it was only Judo. Further into the building, around to the right, was a Snack Bar that sold little more than potato chips and odd-tasting Shasta soft drinks. |
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The Chevrolet Carryall seems to be loaded with Shirley and Lin’s possessions, ca. 1959. They may be about to depart on their last day with the Rayle family, towards the end of Roy’s Taiwan tour. The boy is son Mark. Not seen is the Dodge Coronet which at about this time was sold for a suitcase-full of NT dollars. Our tour is finished, the Rayle’s have moved on. Can someone else pickup the day to day events after 1959?
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