The battle of Hamburger hill was a battle that took place during the Vietnam war; may 10th to the 20th 1969.
It was a battle in which the American forces assaulted the Vietnamese (VPA) forces in and around the area of Hill 937. What really make this battle interesting was that on a strategic level the commanders made some pretty poor calls; some so bad that their were riots back in the States because of the out come.

In the Thua Thien Province, in the Republic of Vietnam, Hamburger hill or hill 937, was a hill that stood more or less alone. It was surrounded by jungle and was simply a stark and unfriendly, unforgiving hill. It held next to no strategic value in the war effort and is a solid example of what not to do in many scenarios that an infantryman could one day find himself in.
The battle involved 1800 soldiers from the United States and approximately 800 soldiers from the VPA. First thing I want to point out id the size difference between the two groups. The US out numbers the VPA certainly; but not by the margin of 3-1. In the Infantry FM- 7-8, it is stated that when engaging the enemy you should outnumber the opposing force by a margin of at least 3-1. That’s the first mistake made by the commander, Melvin Zais. If the number of opposing forces was unknown he should have taken more care when attacking a fortified mounting with numbers possible exceeding his own. This was a battle that was not fought for land or strategic positioning- it was simple. It was to search and destroy the VPA. All that was known was that a number of VPA troops had a base somewhere on the hill and it was their job to destroy them .

The battle started when platoons from the initial until to reach the mountain came in contact with heavy resistance from the guerilla fighters. Seeing that they were at a distanced disadvantage, the commander of the unit called for close wing air support in the form of cobras. Being that the terrain was all thick jungle, it’s no wonder that the following happened. The cobras, because of the terrain and obvious miscommunication between the commander and the pilots, the cobras made devastating strafing runs on the sight of the battle. Only they didn’t hit the VPA. They hit their own troops. Thought it was not the first account of fratricide had been committed during that campaign. Ammo and ordinates poured into the already assaulting friendly US forces.
Over the next few days the American and south Vietnam troops assaulted the hill, and gained very little save the realization that the enemy were more than the company size they initially predicted. Over the next few days steps would be taken to make sure that the enemy could not re-enforce the hill. The hills sat a mere four miles from the border of Laos. One of the units were moved by helicopter to the southern side of the mountain where heavy fighting had yet to be initiated. Over the course of the next 3 or 4 days, progress was made, but not with out cost. Both American and southern Vietnam troops encountered heavy resistance and took heavy casualties. It was becoming clear that there were not onluy more enemy that originally thought here, but they were also well equipped, supplied and hidden. Not only were casualties taken on the man side of things, the Americans also took several shot down choppers as they attempted to move in special operations units to assist them in the taking of the hill. Not only this but fratricide continued and on several accounts the soldiers calling for fire got hit as often as not. Some other difficulties suffered by the American command was the lack of space for maneuvering, which required soldiers to get very close to the enemy before discharging weapons; an enemy that knew the land and was well entrenched as well. The bunkers were so numerous and well buried that more often than not indirect fire that was called for by the FOs of the different platoons was rendered in-effective. The positions were already pre planned, and enemy machine gunners had to merely look at nearly perfect fields of fire and turned the Americans into “hamburger,” hence the name “hamburger hill.” It was thought that the hamburger was a reference to “the battle at Porkchop hill” as well. To us this may seem an amusing comparison, but in reality, it was anything but.
On may 16th the American forces committed them self’s to a universal attack plan, in which all groups of soldiers that had been involved so far committed to a fresh attack all at once. Everyone received heavy casualties, and none took the hill. In some instances all the officers in a single unit were killed. Delta Company 3/187th nearly carried the hill but experienced severe casualties, including all of its officers. he 3/187th's losses had been severe, with approximately 320 killed and wounded, including more than sixty percent of the 450 experienced troops who had assaulted into the valley. Two of its four company commanders and eight of twelve platoon leaders had become casualties. Because of these numbers, fresh troops were brought in to replace certain battalions and every one regrouped and reconsolidated until the 20th, the day of the final assault.
Two fresh battalions—the 2/501st Infantry and ARVN 2/3d Infantry—were airlifted into LZs northeast and southeast of the base of the mountain on May 19. Both battalions immediately moved onto the mountain to positions from which they would attack the following morning. Meanwhile the 1/506th for the third consecutive day struggled to secure the hill.
On the morning of the 20th, the hill was hit by two hours of aerial bombardment and ninety minutes of artillery sticks. After which all companies made for the top of the hill. Bunkers were cleared and room raided. The hill was cleared and secured by 1700 that evening.
U.S. losses during the ten-day battle reportedly totaled 72 dead and 372 wounded. To take the position, the 101st Airborne Division eventually committed five infantry battalions, about 1,800 men, and ten batteries of artillery. In addition, the U.S. Air Force flew 272 support sorties and expended more than 450 tons of bombs and 69 tons of napalm.
The crazy thing about this is that the hill was abandoned just a few days after. The hard fought battle had been for naught. Outrage and controversy spread like fire. The controversy of the conduct of the Battle of Hamburger Hill led to a reappraisal of U.S. strategy in South Vietnam.
As a direct result, to hold down casualties, General Abrams discontinued a policy of "maximum pressure" against the North Vietnamese to one of "protective reaction" for troops threatened with attack. The whole face of combat in veitnam was changed forever because of this battle.

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