A feathered helicopter passenger gets the VIP treatment (albeit a one-way trip) on the way to Bear Cat base camp, where hungry 9th Infantry Division soldiers eagerly await its arrival in Vietnam in November of 1967. (John Olson/Stars and Stripes)
Vietnam, November, 1967: A feathered helicopter passenger gets the VIP treatment (albeit a one-way trip) on the way to Bear Cat base camp, where hungry 9th Infantry Division soldiers eagerly await its arrival. The turkey was one of 57,000 sent in to provide as many as possible of the half-million U.S. servicemembers in Vietnam with the traditional holiday feast. Also rolling through the supply chain for the 1967 meal were 225 tons of boneless turkey meat, 28 tons of cranberry sauce, 15 tons of mixed nuts, eight tons of candy, 11 tons of olives and 33 tons of fruitcake.