Ap Bia Mountain Essay

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On May 17 1969, some of the bravest soldiers within the United States Army were given an order to take control of Ap Bia Mountain (hill 937) in the A Shau Valley of Vietnam. The battle was part of Operation Apache Snow, which purpose was to stop North Vietnamese Army soldiers from infiltrating the A Shau Valley from Laos. Hill 937 saw some of the most ferocious fighting that was ever seen and was later named Hamburger Hill, due to the grinding of the soldiers to reach the crest and to be a like a human meat grinder after all the casualties taken. Major General Melvin Zais formulated Hill 937’s plan of attack 10 thru 17 May 1969. On 17 May 1969, 3/187 Infantry moved west to high ground and would prepare to start the attack with 90mm machineguns and small arms fire. Major General Zais knew in order to take the hill Field Artillery would have to play a major role. Every Artillery unit who could range Hill 937 would be supporting this operation. The initial attack consisted of one minute of artillery fire utilizing the 105mm CS gas howitzer rounds. The morning of the attack, winds were ideal with the flow heading east to have maximum effectiveness with the CS gas rounds. After the initial minute of fires, fifteen minutes of VT and HE artillery fire perused to soften enemy fighting positions. At 1000 hrs, the initial artillery …show more content…

The 3-187 suffered 39 killed and 290 wounded; the total casualties for the mountain were 70 killed and 372 wounded. More than 600 enemy bodies were found on the hill when the battle was over. It will never be known just how many North Vietnam Army soldiers were killed and wounded and were carried into Laos. Many people believe hundreds of enemy soldiers were buried in collapsed bunkers and tunnels on the mountain, but a Special Forces patrols on the Laotian side of the border reported that some 1,100 enemy dead and wounded had been removed from the hill during the battle. (Zaffiri,

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