The Battle of Dong Ap Bia

For this case study I will be covering the Battle of Dong Ap Bia also known as “Hamburger Hill”, one of the bloodiest and most infamous battles of the Vietnam War. This battle took place from May 10-20, 1969 in the A Shau Valley of Vietnam. This battle took place during “Operation Apache Snow” which was the second part of a three phase campaign intended to destroy North Vietnam Army (NVA) Base Areas in the remote A Shau Valley1. This was not the most casualty producing battle but because it took place toward the end of the Vietnam War when it had become very unpopular with the American public it received an excessive amount of negative political and press coverage. It became the focal point of the media and started a debate on our military strategy that led to a major turning point in the War.

The debate put simply was whether or not the cost of American lives was worth it to take a hill that had no strategic value since shortly after the hill was taken it was abandon. This debate led to “Vietnamization” which was President Nixon’s plan to slowly reduce the American forces in Vietnam while strengthening South Vietnams army and political influence to prepare them against a communist takeover and allow the U.S. to leave the conflict with its honor intact.3 Shortly after the battle of Hamburger Hill came President Nixon’s announcement to withdraw 25,000 troops by July of 1969 followed by 35,000 more by that December.

History

After the final bloody assault on the 20th of May a Soldier wrote “Hamburger Hill” on a piece of meal ration box and nailed it to a tree at the base of hill 937 and under that another Soldier wrote “was it worth it?” As previously stated the battle on “Hamburger Hill” was a part of Operation Apach...

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...History, accessed March 10, 2014, http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1875.html

James H. Wilbanks. “Vietnam” Proquest Military Collection, June 2009 http://search.proquest.com/docview/195759868/fulltext?accountid=16366 Kelly Boian, MAJ, “Major General Melvin Zais and Hamburger Hill” (United States Army Command and General Staff College) 35-42

Samuel Zaffiri, Hamburger Hill (New York: The Baltimore Publishing Group, 1988), 36

“The Battle Of Hamburger Hill During The Vietnam War”, Vietnam Magazine, June 12, 2006, http://www.historynet.com/battle-for-hamburger-hill-during-the-vietnam-war.htm

“The Battle Of Hamburger Hill During The Vietnam War”, Vietnam Magazine, June 12, 2006, http://www.historynet.com/battle-for-hamburger-hill-during-the-vietnam-war.htm

“Vietnamization” History, accessed March 10, 2014,

http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnamization