This page contains the story of a battle that was fought in 1969. Anyone who
can contribute pictures or stories of this battle can email them to me at
hotshot478@yahoo.com. They would be deeply appreciated and will be added to this
page. This battle took place in the A Shau Valley along South Vietnam's northern
border with Laos. Here, On 14 May, 1969 ARVN units and American troops of the 101st
Airborne Division assaulted Hill 937--Ap Bia Mountain, or "Hamburger Hill"--about
one mile from the Laos frontier. The initial attacks were repulsed by entrenched NVA forces and the
action became a battle of attrition between opposing infantry forces. Finally, after nine assaults over six days of
heavy fighting in which severe losses were incurred US and ARVN forces took the hill--only
to abandon the virtually worthless objective several days later. The battle had occurred only
because NVA forces had elected to stand and fight where the terrain was to their
advantage; once the US committed large forces, the NVA forces withdrew across the Laos border.
A harrowing scene from "Hamburger Hill,"the bloody 10-day battle that provoked a public outcry resulting in the end of U.S.
ground combat operations in Vietnam. Wounded troops from the ARVN's 3rd Infantry Regiment and the U.S. 101st Airborne Division
descend Hill 937, which finally fell to their combined assault on May 20, 1969.
A wounded U.S. paratrooper is rushed to safety during the fierce battle to wrest the strategically located peak from the hands of
the Communist.
Paratroopers arrive to reinforce the beleaguered U.S. forces, engaged for more than a week in bitter fighting around the 3,000-foot peak.
"No matter how tough the job is, the American soldier gets the job done. He might hate the hell out of it, but he never quits. In Hamburger Hill,
they might have grumbled, but my God they were there when the chips were down. They eventually went up that hill and took it!"---Colonel Joseph B. Conmy, Jr.,
Commander of 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division
A paratrooper rrom the 101st Airborne Division gazes across the A Shau valley from the top of Dong Ap Bia-dubbed "Hamburger Hill"
by the Americans-six days after the battle.
A Soldier grimaces with pain as he waits to be evacuated from the U.S. base camp at Hamburger Hill.
Medics act quickly to attend to a wounded trooper of the 101st Airborne Division. He has been hit in the face by an enemy hand grenade during an advance
up the NVA-held slopes of Hamburger Hill.
The following pictures were submitted by:
Art Wiknik, Jr.
Co. A/506th
Hamburger Hill Survivor
mucketman@juno.com
Dong_AP_BIA_Mountain_The_Aftermath
AP_Wounded_In_Final_Assault
