The War: Guarding the Gauntlet

It was just past 3 a.m. last week when the deafening roar of high explosive split the quiet moonlit night. The blast slammed the Greek tanker Eleftheroupolis against its pier near the Nha Be tank farm southeast of Saigon, Despite the constant allied watch on shipping along the entire 30-mile length of the Long Tau channel, which links Saigon and the sea, a Viet Cong frogman had attached a 100-lb. charge to the vessel's anchor chain. Damage was minor: one compartment was ruptured, but the jet fuel inside did not ignite.

On another...

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