Okla-homey
5/11/2009, 05:56 AM
May 11, 1969: Paratroopers battle for "Hamburger Hill"
Forty years ago today, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces battle North Vietnamese troops for Ap Bia Mountain (Hill 937), one mile east of the Laotian border.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5968/xxxxxxvietnam2.jpg
The entire mountain is a rugged, uninviting wilderness blanketed in double- and triple-canopy jungle, dense thickets of bamboo, and waist-high elephant grass that in some cases was taller than an M113 Armored Personnel Carrier. Local Montagnard tribesmen called Ap Bia "the mountain of the crouching beast."
Official histories of the engagement refer to it as Hill 937, but the American soldiers who fought there dubbed it "Hamburger Hill", suggesting that those who fought on the hill were "chewed up like a hamburger" and in joking reference to the Battle of Pork Chop Hill during the Korean War.
The battle was part of Operation APACHE SNOW, a 2,800-man Allied sweep of the A Shau Valley. The purpose of the operation was to cut off North Vietnamese infiltration from Laos and enemy threats to Hue and Da Nang.
U.S. paratroopers pushing northeast found the communist forces entrenched on Ap Bia Mountain. In fierce fighting directed by Maj. Gen. Melvin Zais, the mountain came under heavy Allied air strikes, artillery barrages, and 10 infantry assaults.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/7387/zais3200399.jpg
MG Melvin Zais, CG, 101 ABN (AASLT)
The communist stronghold was captured on May 20 in the 11th attack, when 1,000 troops of the 101st Airborne Division and 400 South Vietnamese soldiers fought their way to the summit of the mountain.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/9459/xxxxxxxfire6d.jpg
Aftermath
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5422/xxxxxhamburger20hill.jpg
101st troopers on the summit
During the intense fighting, 597 VC were reported killed and U.S. casualties were 56 killed and 420 wounded. Due to the bitter fighting and the high loss of life, the battle for Ap Bia Mountain was dubbed "Hamburger Hill" by the U.S. media.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6196/xxxxxx18chiversspan.jpg
Forty years ago today, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces battle North Vietnamese troops for Ap Bia Mountain (Hill 937), one mile east of the Laotian border.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5968/xxxxxxvietnam2.jpg
The entire mountain is a rugged, uninviting wilderness blanketed in double- and triple-canopy jungle, dense thickets of bamboo, and waist-high elephant grass that in some cases was taller than an M113 Armored Personnel Carrier. Local Montagnard tribesmen called Ap Bia "the mountain of the crouching beast."
Official histories of the engagement refer to it as Hill 937, but the American soldiers who fought there dubbed it "Hamburger Hill", suggesting that those who fought on the hill were "chewed up like a hamburger" and in joking reference to the Battle of Pork Chop Hill during the Korean War.
The battle was part of Operation APACHE SNOW, a 2,800-man Allied sweep of the A Shau Valley. The purpose of the operation was to cut off North Vietnamese infiltration from Laos and enemy threats to Hue and Da Nang.
U.S. paratroopers pushing northeast found the communist forces entrenched on Ap Bia Mountain. In fierce fighting directed by Maj. Gen. Melvin Zais, the mountain came under heavy Allied air strikes, artillery barrages, and 10 infantry assaults.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/7387/zais3200399.jpg
MG Melvin Zais, CG, 101 ABN (AASLT)
The communist stronghold was captured on May 20 in the 11th attack, when 1,000 troops of the 101st Airborne Division and 400 South Vietnamese soldiers fought their way to the summit of the mountain.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/9459/xxxxxxxfire6d.jpg
Aftermath
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5422/xxxxxhamburger20hill.jpg
101st troopers on the summit
During the intense fighting, 597 VC were reported killed and U.S. casualties were 56 killed and 420 wounded. Due to the bitter fighting and the high loss of life, the battle for Ap Bia Mountain was dubbed "Hamburger Hill" by the U.S. media.
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/6196/xxxxxx18chiversspan.jpg