Understanding the Battle of Hamburger Hill

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The battle of Dong Ap Bia Mountain is commonly referred to and know by many as Hamburger Hill or Hill 937 derived from the height of elevation in which its highest peak reaches. Hamburger Hill earned its nickname due to the intense, bloody battle that took place on this key terrain feature over the course of ten days in May of 1969. Dong Ap Bia Mountain is located in South Vietnam, only a couple miles east of the Laotian boarder and the and Trung Pham River, with Dong So Ridge to its North and Rao Lao River to its South. The peak of the hill consists of a double to sometimes triple canopy of thick jungle and interwoven bamboo plants as well as a complex layout of ridges and draws that branched out into different directions going back …show more content…

Leaving Alpha Company as Battalion reserve the remainder of the Battalion began movement up Hill 937. It wasn’t long before Bravo Company began receiving heavy machinegun and RPG attacks from a well-disciplined enemy force in fortified positions. The unit responded again with accurate airstrikes, mortar fire and napalm. American forces set up a hasty landing zone (LZ) to conduct resupply operations and bring in engineer assets. The helicopter inserting these assets was hit by heavy enemy fire and sustained seven casualties to include all engineer assets. The remainder of the day was relatively …show more content…

First, the unit’s ability to accurately call indirect fires was the key to successfully gaining control on the hill. Relentless and tireless efforts of constant bombardment of the enemies’ positions ultimately resulted in not only mass casualties but a depleted enemy morale and will to continue to fight. Also, the indirect fires plan helped ground forces navigate through the terrain as well. At the beginning of the battle Hill 937 was almost impossible to navigate through. With thick, dense jungle spread throughout the hill, ground forces had nearly and impossible time reaching checkpoints, not to mention staying in some type of tactical formation. Nearing the end of the battle ground forces had little to no issue moving up towards the top of the hill due to the fact that most of the vegetation had been cleared from all the airstrikes and artillery

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