The Battle of Hamburger Hill was one of the most controversial battles of the Vietnam War. The nickname Hamburger Hill (literally:"hamburger hill") was given by American journalists to describe the carnage produced by the fighting led mainly by infantry.
The battle
During the spring of 1969, the American intelligence services spotted important North Vietnamese positions in the A Shau valley, near the Laotian border. As a result, a vast clearing operation was set up in the valley, which began on May 10, 1969. American forces, supported by ARVN units, then discovered an important Vietcong fortified position in the mountain jungle. Dong Ap Bia (coast 937). On May 13, the 187th Infantry Regiment attacked after a powerful artillery barrage, but was repelled. Then begins a permanent fight, in the mud and under torrential rains, in order to gradually seize the coast. Finally, on May 20, at the end of a week of fierce fighting, three battalions of the American army and a battalion of the South Vietnamese army once again attacked the positions of the Vietnamese people's army. and reach the top of Hamburger Hill to find that the enemy has fled during the night.
The result
American casualties during this ten-day battle amounted to 56 dead and 372 wounded. The South Vietnamese army loses about thirty men. To take the position, the US Army committed five infantry battalions, approximately 1,800 men, and ten artillery batteries. In addition, the United States Air Force flew 272 support sorties and dropped over 450 tons of bombs and 69 tons of napalm.
The 7th and 8th Battalions of the 29th Regiment of the Vietnamese People's Army had 630 dead, discovered on and around the battlefield, including those found in the mortuaries of the tunnel complex. At the end of the battle, an American soldier reportedly scribbled on a piece of cardboard:“Hamburger Hill; was it worth it? »
Consequences
The repercussions of the battle were more political than military. Media questioning about the necessity of this battle grew for several weeks after the end of the fighting, mainly when the new commander of the US 101st Airborne Division, General John W. Wright, abandoned the hill without a fight on June 5.
The "hamburger hill" debate carried over to the United States Congress, with criticism from Democratic Senators Edward Moore Kennedy, George McGovern and Stephen Young.
The controversy over the conduct of the battle led to a reassessment of US strategy in Vietnam.
Bibliography
Samuel Zaffiri, Hamburger Hill, May 10- May 20, 1969 (1988), (ISBN 0-89141-706-0)
Movie
The Battle of Hamburger Hill inspired a film by John Irvin:Hamburger Hill, released in 1987.