Hamburger Hill Actions

“It was not war-it was murder” (M.G. D Hill 1862). July 1st 1862, held one of the bloodiest battles during our civil war. Throughout the battle we have learned the importance of understanding your terrain and surroundings. Confederate also realized the relevance of controlling Malvern Hill from a military stand point. Throughout the mistakes of this battle it has taught us over time better ways to communicate, emplace, and maneuver artillery units as a whole. This battle plays a key role in the advancement of our military tactics and execution in the ways that we use artillery today.

LTC Honeycutt continuously assessed the situation at every turn of the war. He knew that the enemy wanted to fight and he was more than happy to oblige. Members of the 3-187th located some documents from the enemy and determined it was the 29th NVA, which signified that they were up against a sizeable enemy force. After a heavy firefight on the fourth day, Honeycutt was able to assess that the enemy strength was more than just a company. He concluded the enemy strength size was a battalion. His assessment required him to develop new frontal attack plans. The companies were able to advance up the hill but they suffered multiple casualties which resulted in them pulling back to their previous night defensive positions. The 3-187th lost ground, troops, and the motivation to

Forces were the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, and the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry. These units were supported by the 9th Marines and the 3rd Battalion, 5th Cavalry, as well as elements of the Army of Vietnam. ‘Don’t mean nothing’, That was the reference from the powerful 1987 movie about the battle for Hamburger Hill, more correctly called Ap Bia Mountain also known as Hill 937. Many soldiers of that May 1969 fight would no doubt agree, since the hill was abandoned to the enemy soon after it was taken. But the truth is that it was one of the most key and historical battles of the war, for it spelled the end of Major American ground combat operations in Vietnam.

This was the first battle between the U.S. Army and the People 's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) of North Vietnam. This two part battle occurred November fourteenth through the eighteenth of November 1965. The location was at the Landing Zone X-Ray and Albany in La Drang Valley. Although ample casualties on both Vietnam and U.S. side, each side adduced the battle was a victory of their own. The action of La Drang Valley was considered essential as it set the layouts for approaches for each side during the conflict. The U.S. troops continued to depend on air mobility and arms fire to acquire their combat zone objectives-achievement of the so called “body count”. Viet Cong learned by quickly engaging their combat forces close to the antagonists (while at close range) the could abrogate American advantages. The battle of La

Hill 937 is finally captured by U.S and South Vietnamese troops, after 10 day.Each day was an assault, to pretty much capture the flag for Hamburger Hill. On May 20, almost 100 U.S troops were killed and 400 wounded and 70 percent had fatally casualties. The battle started on May 10 and ended on May 20.The reason why its called Hill 937 was that there was 937 defenders from North Vietnamese. Hill 937 was abandoned on May 28, 1969. At this battle 597 North Vietnamese troops were killed. Senator Kennedy says that ‘’this battle of Hamburger Hill was a Meat Grinder’’. In the first week of the battle 241 U.S troops alone were killed. In 1987 they made a movie about Hamburger hills.lieutenant General, Richard G. Stilwell began to move his forces to hamburger hills after he was done with A Show Valley. The U.S air force used 450 tons of bombs on Hamburger hills. There were 1800 South Vietnamese troops at Hamburger hill. At Hamburger hill there is 12 feet tall called Elephant grass. The Battle of Hamburger hill was also called ‘’The Battle of Pork chop hill’’. The U.S lost almost or more than 630 troops at the Hamburger hills and 3

On January 21, 1968 the Battle of Khe Sanh had begun. The Battle of Khe Sanh was conducted in Khe Sanh of the northwestern Quảng Trị Province. This is the Republic of Vietnam. This battle was one of the most important battles during the Vietnam War. This battle is important because of how many people were killed or injured, how it began, and the effect or news reports about the battle of Khe Sanh.

To avoid being flanked, I ordered my companies to side-step paces to the left and Companies A, H, C, G, and the F, the Colors Company to refuse to the left at a right angle, doubling the original regimental front . Although our maneuver led to a single rank in some places, it did not allow for a gap between the right-wing companies and the refused left wing companies . Our men also piled a few rocks from boulder to boulder and concealed behind them. When the 15th Alabama first appeared from the northeast, they were surprised by our concealed positions and staggered back among the rocks and low trees in the valleys after initial intense volume of fire from our refused companies. In spite of this, the 15th Alabama pushed back again and again and during some moments, they were merely a dozen yards away. Left Companies C and G were pushed back and upward by pressure from the right companies of the 15th Alabama . Over a ninety-minute period, the companies of the right wing of the 15th Alabama made a series of five attacks against the five companies of the refused left wing of the 20th Maine which under the command of Major Spears . Small squads of the 15th broke through the lines of the 20th with hand-to-hand fighting but each time, we counterattacked and as a result, the line of fighting forged back and forth up and down the hillside. The fighting was so severe and there were dead and wounded in our front and in our

wounded in action, during the first attack. “The heaviest casualties the 31st Infantry Regiment had suffered in a single day during the war. The Chinese managed to inflict heavy casualties on the attackers, but their defenses were starting to give way under devastating UN firepower.” (Thor n.d.) The attack on Triangle Hill stalled in front of what became to be known as “Hill 598”; as both American battalions suffered heavy casualties to Chinese grenades. As the late afternoon claimed the attacks of the US and ROK, they began the preparation of the defensive positions to face the Chinese counterattack. “The PVA 45 Division commander Cui Jiangong attempted a sneak attack with only three infantry companies by 1900 hours to recover lost ground, resulting in the Chinese attackers

In many war stories officers are depicted as the, “heroes of the battle” based off of what was credited in history. Some supported the war efforts exhausted in order to contain communism and others felt like we were fighting an unjust war. The views of the Battle on Pork Chop Hill are no different. US forces originally occupied a location originally known as Hill 355 in October of 1951. The tactics used to capture and fight for this location were brutal, and exhausting for both sides. Various Infantry and Artillery units fought to capture and defend this hill. Using Artillery during this war was key for U.S. forces to capture and control Pork Chop Hill. Even though some would say it was a long drawn out war, it shows the importance of artillery during battle because it provides soldiers basic leadership skills, strengthens future generations of soldiers, and their basic military heritage and tactics.

by the Nixon administration to take the hill and called the Battle of Hamburger Hill “senseless and irresponsible” (Battle of Hamburger Hill, 4). As a result of the criticism, General Creighton Abrams of the Assistance Command Vietnam, was ordered to avoid such intense ground battles. Not all of the U.S soldiers thought that the battle was a wasted effort though. General Zais was also quoted saying, “Those people are acting like this was a catastrophe for the U.S troops. This was a tremendous gallant victory.”

The Battle of the Ia Drang Valley was the first major battle of the Vietnam War that engaged regular forces of the United States Army ushering in a new era of combat. Air Assault of Artillery and Close Air Support used together for the first time in Vietnam allowed an agile small force to be successful against a much larger enemy contingency. Operation Silver Bayonet pitted the Third Brigade of the First Cavalry Division: 1st Battalion and 2nd Battalion of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Cavalry Regiment, against a much larger Vietnamese force to include the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Viet Cong guerilla fighters. The fighting lasted from 14 November to 18 November 1965.

The spearhead was led by Soviet tanks and 120,000 Vietnamese troops across three fronts (demilitarized zone, Central Highlands, and across the Cambodian border northwest of Saigon). Despite predicting a small series of attacks, Americans poorly misjudged the intensity of the attacks as well as timing. Almost entirely caught off guard, North Vietnamese routed thin lines of defending forces, quickly advancing towards Quang Tri northbound, Kontum in the Highlands, and An Loc sixty miles from Saigon. Thieu was forced to send most of his reserves in defense of threatened towns, freeing NLF invaders to take the offensive in Mekong Delta and heavily populated regions around

Second Division had secured the perimeter of Dublin and MG Holcomb had taken command with General Grayston’s permission. He and his staff had designed a defense plan for Dublin which they believed to be solid. However, it wouldn’t stop two divisions hitting them, the 82nd Airborne and the 3rd Infantry, both heading their way. Reports from the field stated that the 82nd was twenty miles

Progress had been slow that day. Supply trucks, fuel tankers, and other armored units had blocked their advance more than the enemy. Small groups had attacked the column in several places, but there hadn’t been any casualties in David’s division. Most ambushes were initiated by lone wolves popping up to fire an un-aimed RPG before disappearing again. A cannon blast and a hail of gunfire blast would rain down on their position afterward. Unless the assailant was determined to thwart the column’s progress suicide, the force didn’t stop to look for a body or pursue the retreating attacker.

Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, 26, told his attorney that several civilians were killed Nov. 19 when his squad went after insurgents who were firing at them from inside a house. The Marine said there was no vengeful massacre, but he described a house-to-house hunt that went tragically awry in the middle of a chaotic battlefield.”