Sweeping new developments have altered navies almost beyond recognition. and now we are on the verge of changes that can make naval power more formidable than ever in the past. "Flexibility" is a word that is closely woven into Navy thinking. We look at the operating Navy itself as a flexible weapons system. capable of carrying out a wide variety of missions in different ways to suit the time and the circumstances. When the fortunes of war and diplomacy left thousands of antiCommunist refugees stranded in North Vietnam. the Navy- was able to come in and move them southward. to freedom. This was the "Passage to Freedom" operation. a humanitarian act that must have gained us many friends in Asia. When aggression threatened in the Formosa Strait. the United States was represented by the firm hand of the 7th Fleet. on the alert. ready for instant action. free to go or to stay. as we chose.
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refugees