1930s Decade

For 30 years, Altadena resident Edward Miller, a 57-year-old retired court reporter, had tucked away his late father's files on a family friend, papers that included handwritten notes signed "Lang." Finally, at the suggestion of his wife, Miller pulled the old briefcase full of files from the closet and took it to the Huntington Library in San Marino. Sue Hodson, curator of literary manuscripts, took one look and got goose bumps.

All around the world, the Stars and Stripes are coming down. From Subic Bay in the Philippines to Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, the U.S. armed forces are striking the colors and leaving empty the posts where they kept watch through four decades of Cold War. It is the largest American military withdrawal since Vietnam. In only two years, 27 major bases and 345 smaller facilities have closed and more than 120,000 troops have come home--with more to follow.