We Were Soldiers (2002) and the Bel UH-1 Iroquois Helicopters

I saw this film in 2014 sometime and I was very puzzled by the part in the opening scene where Hal Moore, played by Mel Gibson, is studying the specifications of the Bell "Huey" Helicopters. "Development of the Iroquois started in the early 1950s, a major impetus being a requirement issued by the United States Army for a new medical evacuation and utility helicopter." What struck me was the maximum ceiling of the things, which was well over 12,000 feet, fully loaded.  I wondered how many places there were in the world which had populations living at that height above sea level. I knew only Bolivia and India/Himalayas/Tibet.

I can't find a clip of that scene, but there's this one:

So I suppose that explains it.

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But then I just learned from CGTN that in the early 1950s the CIA were organising an insurgence in Tibet (3:26):

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