Over-ride any bad taste from the trivializers, the cynics, and the blurbs-from-classicists pretentious, here, at the wiki:

The 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team 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.[1]

Activated in 1915, the 173rd Airborne Brigade saw service in both World War I and World War II, and is best known for its actions during the Vietnam War. The brigade was the first major United States ground formation deployed in Vietnam, serving there for six years and losing almost 1,800 soldiers. Noted for its roles in Operation Hump and Operation Junction City, the soldiers of the 173rd received over 7,700 decorations, including more than 6,000 Purple Hearts. The brigade returned to the United States, where it was inactivated in 1972.

Since its reactivation in 2000, the brigade has served three tours of the Middle East. The 173rd participated in the initial invasion of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, and two tours in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom; one from 2005 to 2006, and a current deployment that began in 2007. The brigade recently returned from duty in eastern Afghanistan.

A decorated unit, the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team has received 20 campaign streamers and several unit awards, including the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions during the Battle of Dak To during the Vietnam War.