Excerpts from Letters to Mom in italics.
17 November 1965
I'm writing, but hesitantly, since I don't even have 2¢ worth to say. Looks like a 6¢ loss. [Note: Postage stamps cost 8 cents.] I managed an "A" in the Chinese course.
I just read a military history of modern China & have another book about US dealings with China from Pearl Harbor to the Marshall Mission checked out.
I'm sort of a regular customer at one of the local steam baths - I stop by several times a month. It costs in Taiwanese money anywhere from 60 to 100 NT ($1.50 to $2.50) depending on how much I have. After the girl takes you out of the steam cabinet, she lathers you up from head to toenails. Really get scrubbed down good everywhere and rinsed off. Then she drys [sic] you and leads you to a single bed. Face down and still naked, you get powdered and then massaged. The massage is terrific, takes about a half-hour. Sure beats sitting in a bar drinking booze all afternoon. [Had he been writing to a buddy in Zwei or high school, the narrative would have concluded: The girl then turns you over and massages there awhile. Finally she touches you below and asks, "You like?" Then a napkin is placed under the scrotum pole. By this time you're as relaxed as a wet dishrag and next thing she's orally stimulating you. Just a few steps down the alley a half block to the LinKuo Club. Still red as a lobster from the "steam job-blow bath," beer replenishes the lost fluids.
Steve sent several letters back to his buddy Ed Lahnstein in Sunny Zwei confirming what Ed had told him about how different duty in the Far East would be. Ed was partially responsible for edging AG2 Fehr into shipping over for a tour in Taipei. Years later Ed told Steve he delighted reading the Taipei letters to the guys in the shop at the Oh Worst; it never failed to crack them up. Ed recalled the tales about Taiwanese tail, i.e., the girls reportedly had snappin' pussy and a motor on their ass! It would be years later until he took those race-car driving lessons (Lamaze classes) to learn that there was a more clinical name - the gals had merely been practicing their Kegel exercises. The Kegel vaginal muscle regimen strengthened the pelvic floor muscles that increased sexual responsiveness. Sailors who had been to Japan, reportedly referred to the erotic contractions as "kin-chuck-a-bo-bo."]
It is not uncommon for some of the guys on a break to patronize these places four, five times a nite. There are also hotels you can go to -- almost any hotel - and they will parade girls through the room til you see one you like. Cost about $2 - $3 & same for a room.
[There was an exclusive residential area about 10 miles north of the capital that featured numerous shady hotels (yes, the streets were tree-lined) and all blessed with natural, hot sulfur springs. The lovely town, seated at the base of Grass Mountain, also known as Yangmingshan Park, was called Pei'tou, pronounced "Bay Doe." GI's would arrive in a red Datsun taxi carrying cases of beer and ask to see the girls. The pulchritudinous parade would commence and not cease until all the guys were happily set up. If one still were not satisfied, quite possible if two or three taxis disgorged a large contingent of besotted revelers, mama san got on the phone. Soon a scooter would pull up, another gal would jump off and join the selection process for the party. Guys joked that some of the rejected girls sneaked back via the scooter route for a second look-see.
The centerpiece of each guest room was a large, deep, marble bathtub. Bang, bang Lu Lu! From the bed to the baths all night long, cleaner than a whistle till sleep mercifully overtook exhaustion, beer and bliss!] Of course you can go to one of the numerous bars, and find up to 45 girls in one bar and maybe one to five customers. To buy a girl out of a bar for the nite costs $5, which the bar and the girl split. VD (pronounced wee dee) is rampant here, so you must take preventative measures or "expect to get shot down," as they say.
Guess, I'll read my Newsweek tonite & maybe a book - I want to get up early for my first day of work in a week! Well, I'll write again when I think of sompthin to say.
AG2 Fehr's Performance Evaluation was signed and dated 16 November 1965, by the OIC, an LCDR. The succinct description of assigned tasks misleadingly read, "Climatologist." The evaluation was also rather curt: "FEHR is a conscientious and industrious petty officer. He is very interested in his job and continually seeks to better himself. He willingly accepts responsibility and applies himself to the fullest on every task assigned. FEHR always presents an impressive military appearance."