The World - News from April 14, 1989

Soviet soldiers who were sent to Vietnam in the 1960s to help set up anti-aircraft systems took part in combat operations, often shooting down U.S. aircraft, the Soviet army daily Red Star reported. The newspaper printed reminiscences, mainly from personal diaries, of soldiers who served during the Vietnam War, the first acknowledgment that troops, rather than advisers, fought alongside the North Vietnamese. The soldiers recounted how anti-aircraft units coped with heavy U.S. air attacks beginning in 1965, downing American planes with missiles. The Soviets praised their North Vietnamese comrades for quickly learning how to use the weapons.