Their officers and senior noncoms were drawn from the U.S. Army's elite. An all-volunteer unit of paratroopers, the "Sky Soldiers," men of the 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate) were MACV's "fire brigade," rushed to stem the tide wherever the fighting was heaviest. In 1967 the attention of General Giap and his North Vietnamese Army (NVA) focused on a small mountain hamlet in the Central Highlands called Dak To. From June to November 1967, in the hills and valleys surrounding Dak To, the 173d fought some of the bloodiest battles of the entire Vietnam War.
