Book excerpt: 'You know it's going to be hot when your brigade is referred to as a fireball unit. From May 1967 through May 1968, the Sky Soldiers of the 173rd Airborne were in the thick of it, humping eighty-pound rucksacks through triple-canopy jungle and chasing down the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. As sergeant major for a battalion of 800 men, it was Ted Arthur's job to see them through this jungle hell and get them back home again. Command Sergeant Major Ted G. Arthurs served with the 4th Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade, in Vietnam. He fought in the battles of Dakto and the Tet Offensive.' (Back of Book)