The Battle Of Hamburger Hill

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading "We are in for some tough fighting ahead, but I feel we have never before been more capable of success than now. The NVA we are going to meet out there will be highly trained, well-equipped, hard-core troops who will stand and fight, especially when we get close to his base camps and supply depots." - Colonel John Hoefling, 2nd Brigade, March 1, 1969 The Vietnam War could have been called a comedy of errors if the consequences weren't so deadly and tragic. In 1951, while war was raging in Korea, the United States began signing defense pacts with nations in the Pacific, intending to create alliances that would contain the spread of Communism. As the Korean War was winding down, America joined the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, pledging to defend several nations in the region from Communist aggression. One of those nations was South Vietnam. Faced with such a determined opponent, skilled in asymmetrical warfare and enjoying considerable popular support, the Americans would ultimately choose to fight a war of attrition. While the Americans did employ strategic hamlets, pacification programs, and other kinetic counterinsurgency operations, they largely relied on a massive advantage in firepower to overwhelm and grind down the Viet Cong and NVA in South Vietnam. The goal was simple: to reach a "crossover point" at which communist fighters were being killed more quickly than they could be replaced. American ground forces would lure the enemy into the open, where they would be destroyed by a combination of artillery and air strikes. One of the most infamous battles of the Vietnam War, the Battle of Hamburger Hill - officially, part of Operation Apache Snow - occurred in spring of 1969. Towering over the perilous, elephant grass choked length of the A Shau Valley, Hill 937, otherwise known as Hamburger Hill or Dong Ap Bia ("Crouching Beast Mountain"), rose to a height of over 3,074 feet above sea level. The Americans launched a series of 11 attacks against this low mountain's NVA defenders, leading to fierce combat involving both advanced weaponry and infantry tactics unchanged since World War II. The Battle of Hamburger Hill ranks as one of the most famous - or infamous - of the Vietnam War. Over time, however, all nuance and context have vanished, leaving a legend of pointless butchery which ignores the very real strategic and tactical considerations that converged to produce the encounter. The battle pitted several battalions of the 101st Airborne Division, one of America's most famous fighting units, against the 29th Regiment of the NVA. The latter's toughness, skill, courage, and zeal earned it the unofficial sobriquet of "The Pride of Ho Chi Minh." Both units fought extremely hard and with great determination, inflicting high casualties on one another. The change from an elusive strategy to one of aggression marked a shift in North Vietnamese action, too. Documents captured during the battle indicated the 29th moved into the A Shau Valley and occupied Hill 937 as a staging area for a second full-scale attack on the city of Hue. This, in turn, triggered a shift in American military thinking, though as was often the case during the war, the results suffered from the effects of large-scale political interference. The Battle of Hamburger Hill: The History and Legacy of One of the Vietnam War's Most Controversial Battles chronicles one of the most controversial campaigns of the war, and the effects it had on both sides. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Battle of Hamburger Hill like never before.

As a first lieutenant in Bravo Company of the Third Battalion, 187th Infantry, Frank Boccia led a platoon in two intense battles in the Vietnamese mountains in April and May 1969: Dong Ngai and the grinding, 11-day battle of Dong Ap Bia—the Mountain of the Crouching Beast, in Vietnamese, or Hamburger Hill as it is popularly known. The Rakkasans, the 3/187th, are the most highly decorated unit in the history of the United States Army, and two of those decorations were awarded for these two battles. This vivid account of the author’s first seven months in Vietnam gives special attention to the events at Dong Ap Bia, following the hard-hit 3/187th hour by hour through its repeated assaults on the mountain, against an unseen enemy in an ideal defensive position. It also corrects several errors that have persisted in histories and official reports of the battle. Beyond describing his own experiences and reactions, the author writes, “I want to convey the real face of war, both its mindless carnage and its nobility of spirit. Above all, I want to convey what happened to both the casual reader and the military historian and make them aware of the extraordinary spirit of the men of First Platoon, Bravo Company. They were ordinary men doing extraordinary things.”

The battle for Ap Bia Mountain (Hill 937), was one of the fiercest of the entire Vietnam War. On May 10, 1969, Army, Marine Corps, and ARVN forces kicked off Operation Apache Snow. It was finally time to clean out the notorious A Shau Valley. The next day, elements of the 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles, made initial contact with NVA forces on the lower reaches of Hill 937. The ten days of combat that followed became the human meat grinder known around the world as Hamburger Hill. The firestorm of controversy that sprang up around this incredibly bloody battle has long overshadowed the facts of the battle itself and the campaign of which it was a part. Now, in author Zaffiri’s masterful account of the battle, the full story, from the high command down to the individual Screaming Eagle on the mountain, is revealed. Praise for Hamburger Hill “[Samuel Zaffiri] skillfully blends his narrative with anecdotal material. It is the many chilling, sometimes poignant, vignettes that make the addition of this volume to any soldier’s bookshelf a must.”—Military Review “Vietnam combat veteran Samuel Zaffiri . . . presents the action and decision making at Ap Bia in remarkably forceful detail.”—Vietnam Magazine “Probably no other Vietnam battle better illustrates . . . Sherman’s dictum that war is hell. Mr. Zaffiri focuses on the incredible horror and hardship faced by the soldier on the ground. . . . [His] narrative is viscerally graphic. . . . Zaffiri’s realistic and authoritative account deserves to be read. By dramatically describing the assault on Hamburger Hill, the author has raised anew controversial questions about the Vietnam War that will be debated for a long time to come.”—Army Magazine

Because it was released less than a year after Oliver Stone's Platoon and within months of Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket, this exceptionally well-made film about one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War was largely overshadowed and overlooked. It's a pity, because in some respects this is the best of the Vietnam films of the late 1980s, at least in terms of the everyday authenticity it depicts. Stripped clean of dramatically extraneous narrative, the movie opts instead for a straightforward approach to its day-by-day account of one of the war's costliest victories--a deadly siege on Hill 937 in the Ashau Valley, where soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division engaged the enemy over the course of eleven brutal assaults between May 10th and 20th, 1969. The film specifically follows the 3rd Squad, 1st Platoon, a mixture of "new guys" and battle-weary "short-timers" who fought against terrifying odds and suffered a 70% casualty rate. From first scene to last, Hamburger Hill traces the rise and fall of their battle experience, from the horror of firefights to the camaraderie of men who've faced death and survived. Racial tensions flare and subside, trusts are established, and courage emerges from unexpected places. Through it all, writer Jim Carabatsos and director John Irvin maintain a purity of focus that pays tribute to the soldier's life without promoting false patriotism or gung-ho theatrics. In addition, the film features a cast full of talented and well-known actors in the early stages of their careers, including Dylan McDermott (from the TV series "The Practice") and Don Cheadle, before gaining fame in Devil in a Blue Dress and Boogie Nights.

For almost 11 days in May 1969, American troops waged a deadly battle for control of a 3,000-foot-tall hill in a remote valley in South Vietnam. Famously known as "Hamburger Hill," the battle launched the first phase of Operation Apache Snow, a coordinated attack by the U.S. Army and South Vietnamese forces (known as the Army of the Republic of Vietnam, or ARVN) against units of the Northern People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) This book is about one of the most famous - or infamous - of the Vietnam War. Over time, however, all nuance and context have vanished, leaving a legend of pointless butchery which ignores the very real strategic and tactical considerations that converged to produce the encounter. The battle pitted several battalions of the 101st Airborne Division, one of America's most famous fighting units, against the 29th Regiment of the NVA. The latter's toughness, skill, courage, and zeal earned it the unofficial sobriquet of "The Pride of Ho Chi Minh." Both units fought extremely hard and with great determination, inflicting high casualties on one another.

The Battle for AP BIA Mountain.

As a first lieutenant in Bravo Company of the Third Battalion, 187th Infantry, Frank Boccia led a platoon in two intense battles in the Vietnamese mountains in April and May 1969: Dong Ngai and the grinding, 11-day battle of Dong Ap Bia--the Mountain of the Crouching Beast, in Vietnamese, or Hamburger Hill as it is popularly known. The Rakkasans, the 3/187th, are the most highly decorated unit in the history of the United States Army, and two of those decorations were awarded for these two battles. This vivid account of the author's first seven months in Vietnam gives special attention to the events at Dong Ap Bia, following the hard-hit 3/187th hour by hour through its repeated assaults on the mountain, against an unseen enemy in an ideal defensive position. It also corrects several errors that have persisted in histories and official reports of the battle. Beyond describing his own experiences and reactions, the author writes, "I want to convey the real face of war, both its mindless carnage and its nobility of spirit. Above all, I want to convey what happened to both the casual reader and the military historian and make them aware of the extraordinary spirit of the men of First Platoon, Bravo Company. They were ordinary men doing extraordinary things."

Includes 14 maps and diagrams. The battle at Dong Ap Bia (Hamburger Hill) occurred during Operation APACHE SNOW, a XXIV Corps directed operation in the Northern Ashau Valley. This operation was initiated on 10 May 1969 with the specific purpose of destroying North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC) forces believed to be grouping in the Ashau Valley, blocking enemy routes of egress into Laos, interdicting enemy lines of communication and locating and destroying known enemy caches. Allied forces participating in the operation consisted of elements of the 101st Airborne Division, 3d Marine Division, and the 1st ARVN Division. Table of contents includes a background, the Battle at Dong Ap Bia (fire support, enemy losses, and U.S. casualties summaries), consideration of allegations by Senator Stephen M. Young, and a draft insert for congressional record.