World: Shock for a Symbol

The huge U.S. military base at Cam Ranh Bay has long been hailed as proof of American determination to stay in Viet Nam. Swiftly constructed at a cost of more than $100 million by Army engineers in the heady days of the 1965-66 buildup, the complex has 70 miles of roads, a jet airfield, a port handling ocean freighters and one of the Army's largest supply depots anywhere. Cam Ranh Bay was considered so safe that Lyndon Johnson paid two visits there.

It was a haven in an ugly war. White sand beaches stretch far at Cam Ranh. Off-duty Americans surf on...

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