Memorial to hero servicemen opened at former Soviet Cam Ranh base

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10/12 Tass 242


CAM RANH (Vietnam), December 10 (Itar-Tass) --A memorial to Soviet,
Russian and Vietnamese servicemen and civilians, killed when doing their
professional duty, was opened at the former Soviet Cam Ranh base in
Vietnam on Thursday. The memorial was built on the initiative of the
Russo- Vietnamese oil enterprise ":Vietsovpetro" that financed the
memorial construction.
The memorial built in memory of the people who sacrificed their
lives for the sake of peace and stability in the region is situated on
the territory of Cam Ranh international airport created on the site of
the former military aerodrome of the Russian Navy.
The memorial is an architectural composition that includes memorial
plaques bearing the names of 44 Soviet and Russian servicemen and 176
citizens of Vietnam killed during a period of joint use of the Cam Ranh
base in 1979-2002. There are the names of the air crew of the Soviet
bomber TU-95, who were killed in the South China Sea on February 13, 1985
while performing a combat task, and pilots of the Russkie Vityazi
(Russian Knights) air crew killed in a tragic incident near Cam Ranh on
December 12, 1995.
A first obelisk in memory of the Soviet and Russian citizens killed
in Vietnam was built on the territory of the Cam Ranh military aerodrome
in 2001. After the Russian contingent was withdrawn from Cam Ranh in May,
2002 the obelisk was practically neglected and might have disappeared
altogether. Thanks to efforts made by conscientious people and the
Vietsovpetro's support the obelisk was restored. Then,"Vietsovpetro"
commenced work on a memorial to servicemen who sacrificed their lives
during their service in Vietnam. A joint commission consisting of Russian
and Vietnamese workers of the Vietsovpetro enterprise, workers of the
Russian Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh and the office of the Russian
Zarubezhneft company in Vietnam was set up for the realization of the
project.
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