The 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team ("Sky Soldiers") is an airborne infantry brigade combat team of the United States Army based in Vicenza, Italy. It is the United States European Command's conventional airborne strategic response force for Europe. Activated in 1915, as the 173d Infantry Brigade, the unit saw service in World War II but is best known for its actions during the Vietnam War. The brigade was the first major United States Army ground formation deployed in Vietnam, serving there from 1965 to 1971 and losing almost 1,800 soldiers. Noted for its roles in Operation Hump and Operation Junction City, the 173d is best known for the Battle of Dak To, where it suffered heavy casualties in close combat with North Vietnamese f...
October 30, 1978, WKRP’s station manager believed that he had come up with what was “the greatest promotional idea of all time” for Thanksgiving. This promotion involved hiring a helicopter to drop live turkeys at a local mall, but apparently, nobody involved was aware that turkeys are flightless birds: “Something just came out of the back of the helicopter. It’s a dark object. Perhaps a skydiver. A second. A third… No parachute yet. Oh my God! They’re turkeys!” They’re crashing to the earth right in front of our eyes! One just went through the windshield of a parked car! This is terrible! Oh, the humanity! The turkeys are hitting the ground like sacks of wet cement! The crowd is running for their lives!”