Character Bio: By Vince Zannelli
File Name: Talltree, Franklin E.
Primary Military Specialty: Airborne Infantry
Secondary Military Specialty: Helicopter Gunship Gunner
Birthplace: Navaho Reservation, Arizona
SN: 030-44-TT62
Grade: E-5
Bio:The oil-rich Navajo parents of SGT. AIRBORNE indulged their eldest son with skydiving lessons. Also having an interest in the legal system, he studied law and passed the Arizona State Bar exams. He joined the Army and opted for airborne training. Sgt. Airborne jokes around and gets loose, but he's serious too…dead serious. You look at him and sometimes he's looking right through you. It must be the Native American in him. The Navajos call it "the far-seeing look." He graduated at the top of his class from Airborne School, Fort Benning. Qualified expert: Hughes Helicopter Chain Gun, M-16, M-60, and M-1911A auto pistol. "I'd rather jump out of airplanes than write legal briefs - the view's better."
Sgt. Airborne is a new sculpt based on the 1983 series 2 figure (then referred to "Airborne") and includes pistol, M-16 machine gun, backpack, helmet, and stand. Though Airborne did not receive much airtime in the original animated series, he was necessary for children to have seated behind Wild Bill in the Dragonfly helicopter vehicle released the same year, as the cockpit was designed to hold two pilots. Most vintage depictions of Sgt. Airborne associate him with this vehicle for various G.I. Joe operations.
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