Angels in Red Hats By General Barry R. McCaffrey

The battle record of the Vietnamese Airborne Division and the associated US Army Advisors and Air Force Forward Air Controllers is a tale of courage, self-sacrifice, and honor which stands out in the history of warfare. The ARVN Airborne was the most highly decorated of all the South Vietnamese Army units. Thousands of these brave Vietnamese paratroopers were killed, maimed. or became missing during their 25 years of nearly continuous combat service as an airborne force, from 1951 until 1975.

Eight of the nine Vietnamese parachute infantry battalions and all three brigade headquarters were awarded the United States President Unit Citation during their years of ferocious combat white fighting alongside the US 1st Cavalry, 1st. 4th, and 25th Infantry Divisions; and the 101st Airborne Division as well as the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The Vietnamese Paratroopers also fought valiantly in support of the heroic US and Vietnamese Marine counterattack which successfully recaptured the city of Hue during the Tet Offensive of 1968.