Vietnam: The Epic Battle of Hamburger Hill
That same Hamburger Hill mountain, formerly Dong Ap Bia
Before we begin the story of the assault on Hamburger Mountain (the Americans called it a hill, but 937 meters is clearly too high for a hill), it's worth delving a little into the maelstrom of American domestic politics. The fact is, in the US, it's domestic politics that comes first, and it dictates foreign policy, so...
Richard Nixon—what a lucky man! He inherited the Vietnam War...
Lyndon Johnson, seeing his popularity plummet, withdrew from the 1968 election. The Democratic Party nominated Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey in his place. This was all the more galling for Johnson, as it was with Humphrey that he had defeated the Republicans in the 1964 election. The president had ambitious plans for building a "Great Society" in the United States—an America without poverty. And much of this work was successful: health care and education reforms were initiated, racial segregation was gradually curtailed, GDP grew by 10 percent in the first year of his proposed tax cuts, and the economy grew by 4,5 percent from 1961 to 1966.
All this could not help but make Johnson a highly popular president, if not a "great" one, but the Vietnam War, into which he was drawn by his own administration, put an end to his further political career. The Great Society programs were curtailed by 1967—all the money was being sucked into distant Indochina. Ultimately, on January 20, 1969, Johnson handed over the presidency to Richard Nixon, the victor of Humphrey's election. The Vietnam War now became a Republican issue.
Clark Clifford, the Secretary of Defense, is the new one, the morons are the legacy of the previous one...
They began by restricting information. Restricting freedom of speech by silencing the media was difficult in the US at the time, but silencing the military was easy. The new Secretary of Defense, Clark Clifford, banned the military from predicting victory in Vietnam with his very first directive. However, they didn't need much convincing: the press had already been savaging them, so the order was fully understood. Meanwhile, the media continued to ask uncomfortable questions, such as: Isn't it time to sit down at the negotiating table, as the war seems to be on the brink of extinction? In short, Dean Rusk, who had worked hard to drag Johnson into the war, now complained: "Here in the United States, the communists have achieved a brilliant political victory."...
Xuan Thuy
So, after Dai Do, on May 10, 1968, in Paris, the American delegation, led by Averell Harriman, met with the North Vietnamese delegation, led by Xuan Thuy, a member of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Vietnam (WPV). The choice of the head of the Vietnamese delegation was telling: a rank-and-file functionary, without a big name or authority—he could talk the talk, but wouldn't sign anything serious. The position of the Soviet leadership was interesting: the USSR Ministry of Foreign Affairs was just as concerned about the prolongation of the war as the Americans—Hanoi was fighting, but Moscow was footing its bills, and the Soviet Union never had any extra money; it always had other things to do with it: space, etc., maintaining the army, etc. fleet, agriculture... As the USSR Ambassador to the USA Anatoly Dobrynin wrote:
There was no less concern in Moscow than in Washington... In fact, at the Politburo meeting, the Americans, the Chinese, and the North Vietnamese were scolded for their unwillingness to seek a compromise peace settlement in Vietnam... Brezhnev once told me irritably that he didn't want to drown in the Vietnamese swamps.
A-shau Valley. Or Asau. Or Ashau. So many sources, so many spellings...
Meanwhile, the Vietnamese continued their usual practice: separate the flies and cutlets—well, negotiations are good negotiations, but no one stopped fighting. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was fully operational, and along it, both the necessary supplies for the guerrilla war and the guerrillas themselves were continuously transported to southern Vietnam. The American military was furious that operations to interdict movement along the "trail" in Laos were strictly prohibited (a pilot dropping a load of bombs on Laos could always claim a mistake, but for an infantry unit to get lost like that... was more difficult). Therefore, they regularly combed the Vietnamese territory adjacent to the Laotian border—the A Shau Valley (sometimes spelled "Ashau" or "Asau").
Looks like those same degars from the Hanoi Ethnic Minority Festival. Or maybe not: there are 54 ethnic minorities in Vietnam.
It must be said that the Yankees did indeed comb it, and from time to time. The VNA felt right at home here, with warehouses, camps, training grounds, and all the accompanying infrastructure. The local "Montagnards" from the Degar tribe (who supported the Americans) had been expelled from the region, so no one stopped the Northerners from digging here so intensively that it would make moles jealous! And so...
The emblem of the 101st Airborne Division, unofficially known as the "Screaming Eagles"
The funniest thing about the battle that became a turning point in the war is that the Americans didn't even plan it! While all previous operations were just that—operations, albeit poorly planned, and with albeit silly goals—then here... On May 10, 1969, the Americans and their Saigon allies began another sweep of the A Shau Valley. The US Army's participation in the operation, dubbed Operation Apache Snow, included the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division (three airborne infantry battalions) and Marines from the 9th Marine Regiment, a total of about 1800 troops. The South Vietnamese deployed the 2nd and 4th Battalions of the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division. Many more followed.
The mission was specifically to comb the valley and prevent NVA fighters from penetrating deep into South Vietnam, and Dong Ap Bia Mountain (called "Mountain of the Prowling Beast" in the Degar language), designated as "Hill 937" on American maps, wasn't even mentioned in the briefing. Meanwhile, the mountain itself was a challenging terrain feature: steep slopes covered in dense jungle, with narrow, long trails leading up. But most importantly, the 29th NVA Regiment (nicknamed "The Pride of Ho Chi Minh"!), commanded by Colonel Ma Vinh Lan—a force of about 800 men—was dug in on the mountain. It was an easily defended area.
GI helicopter landings in the Hamburger Hill area
The plan called for the Americans to land from helicopters in the A Shau Valley, then the Marines and the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Cavalry Regiment were to conduct a reconnaissance in force in the direction of the Laotian border, the Saigon regime fighters were to cut off the highway at the entrance to the valley, and the remaining American battalions were to destroy all the Vietnamese they encountered in their sectors, after which they were to close off the escape routes to Laos.
In general, the American commanders, as usual, assumed that if one battalion got bogged down in combat with superior VNA forces, a second one would always be able to be airlifted to its aid. Reconnaissance... Well, it's not that there wasn't any, but the jungle in those parts was so dense that nothing could be seen from above, and the Vietnamese had driven all potential agents out of the valley. Basically, battalion commanders were asked to send out scouts themselves, capture prisoners, obtain classified documents, and engage in other such important and interesting activities.
Weldon Honeycutt
On May 10, 1969, thunder rumbled over the valley as hundreds of Hueys descended on the ground, disembarking battalions, each in its own landing zone. The 3rd Battalion (commander Lieutenant Colonel Weldon Honeycutt), 187th Regiment, 101st Division, U.S. Army, began clearing Hill 937: Charlie Company covered the landing zone, Alpha and Delta cleared the area on both sides of the mountain, and Bravo searched for a guerrilla base, which, according to vague intelligence, was supposed to be somewhere near the hill. The honor of going first fell to Bravo Company's 4th Platoon.
That the guerrillas were nearby was clear from the discovery of a well-developed network of trails, communication cables, bunkers, rifle pits, huts, and abandoned uniforms. None of this raised any alarm: usually, upon seeing a large American force, the guerrillas preferred to retreat. But the positions on Dong Ap Bia Mountain were so strong that the Vietnamese decided not to retreat...
F-105 bombs Vietnam
While advancing along one of the trails, the 4th Platoon came under fire from automatic weapons, machine guns, and RPGs, while Claymore mines were waiting in the trees for the GIs. The American infantry took cover, the platoon commander threw a smoke grenade, and a forward air observer provided coordinates. aviation, F-105s arrived and covered the retreat. The result of the first engagement was one killed and four wounded. Everyone was evacuated. But what to do next? Each GI carries 300 rounds of ammunition for his M-16, 100 for his M-60 machine gun, six hand grenades, and six grenades for his M-79 grenade launcher. Plus water, rations, and other jungle necessities, usually weighing 27–45 kg. Climbing a mountain with such a load is less than pleasant. Usually, the VNA bunkers were dealt with. TanksThey took them apart with a point-blank cannon—log by log. But the mountain was steep, and a tank couldn't get through.
175mm M-107 self-propelled gun. Apparently, the creator of such a long barrel had some kind of compensation...
First, the mountain was threshed artillery — from 175mm self-propelled guns and 203mm towed howitzers. Then aircraft arrived and showered Hill 937 with 225kg bombs and napalm. But the Vietnamese bunkers remained intact: when the GIs of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Regiment, attempted to scale the mountain, they were pinned down by a hurricane of fire. The problem was that Lieutenant Colonel Weldon Honeycutt was a protégé of General Westmoreland, who, after Nixon won the election, was asked to pack his bags. And now the lieutenant colonel was trying to demonstrate what he considered a healthy aggression and a will to win, lest he lose face in front of the new commander of the American army in Vietnam, General Creighton Abrams. He was trying to take a height that, from a strategic standpoint, was completely unnecessary. The order simply stated: find and destroy the VNA forces, so the colonel approached this issue formally, continuing the attacks.
And so it goes – 4 days in a row...
The hapless 3rd Battalion, 187th Regiment, attacked the mountain every single day for four days straight! On May 14, they again launched an assault on Hill 937. The assault was repelled, essentially another "epic fail" with significant losses. The mountain was bombed every day, sometimes more than once. Air support wasn't entirely ineffective, but American gunships were responsible for seven GIs killed (some sources say four killed) and 53 wounded. The narrow paths, the only way to move on the mountain, ended in Vietnamese firing positions, which the Americans, exhausted from climbing with heavy loads, ran into with every attack.
The GIs had already dubbed the mountain "Hamburger Hill," implying that it was turning soldiers' lives into mincemeat. Over four days of constant attacks, Honeycutt's battalion lost 50 GIs killed, 15 missing, and 300 wounded.
Vietnamese counterattack...
It should be noted that Colonel Ma Vinh Lan's subordinates weren't sitting idle on the mountain either—they regularly launched attacks on American warehouses and command posts inadvertently positioned near the mountain, forcing them to organize their defense with the new units brought into the battle. And not just warehouses and command posts! Vietnamese units, ranging from platoon to company-sized, frequently attacked paratrooper companies deploying for attack, forcing American commanders at all levels to maintain a constant all-round defense.
The forest has been thinned out quite well!
Seeing all this chaos, the brigade command finally decided to launch a two-pronged attack. From May 15 to 18, for four days straight, American artillery and aircraft seemed to be trying to raze the hill to the ground. The forest on the mountain slopes was thoroughly thinned, and the stripped trees, according to Sergeant Arthur Wiknick, "stood like twisted telegraph poles after a severe storm"The Vietnamese bunkers lost their camouflage, which, however, didn't make the job of the American artillery and air controllers much easier—there were so many of them! Meanwhile, the 1st Battalion of the 506th Regiment was airlifted to the mountain from the south: the American commanders had finally come up with the idea of attacking Hamburger Hill from two sides.
Major General Melvin Zeiss - smile and wave, gentlemen, smile and wave!
And taking the mountain from the commander of the 101st Airborne Division, Major General Melvin Zeiss, was, frankly, already hot. Associated Press correspondent Jay Sharbut visited him on May 16 and, during the interview, asked the general some very tough questions, such as: "Why was infantry used as the primary offensive tool in the attacks on Hill 937, rather than firepower?"A whole swarm of reporters then descended upon the A-shau Valley, to whom the soldiers explained everything clearly: both for "Hamburger Hill" and for their alternatively gifted command. In short, the heights had to be taken immediately!
Did you order a map?
On May 18, 1969, the coordinated assault began! The GIs, under fire, climbed to the mountaintop, suffering terrible losses. Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 187th Cavalry Regiment, had gotten within 75 meters of the summit, but not a single officer remained. The fighting was close quarters, with soldiers throwing grenades back and forth. As was typical at Honeycutt, the companies attacked disorganized. The battalion commander himself attempted to restore order, directing the battle from a helicopter, but a thunderstorm began and visibility dropped to zero. Ultimately, the battalion retreated back down.
Meanwhile, three companies of the 1st Battalion, 506th Regiment, attacked the southern ridge of the mountain—"Hill 900." Losses were also so high that Zeiss considered ending the operation. But he changed his mind. He decided to commit three fresh battalions to the battle, sending one of them to relieve the 3rd Battalion, 187th Regiment.
The work of a war correspondent gets an A+!
Honeycutt's battalion was already due for replacement: 320 of the 450 men who had started the battle had been killed or wounded. Among them were two company commanders and eight of the twelve platoon commanders. On the afternoon of May 18, Lieutenant Colonel Gene Sherron, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 506th Regiment, arrived at the battalion command post to coordinate the rescue operation. And you know what happened? Honeycutt started yelling at his replacement, insisting that his battalion was still combat-ready and would take that damn mountain! And Zeis relented, handing over one of Sherron's companies to the 3rd Battalion commander as reinforcements.
Helicopter deployment of troops to the Hamburger Hill area
On May 19, two fresh battalions were airlifted to the Gmaburger Hill area by helicopter: the 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, and the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment (Arven). Having landed northeast and southeast of the mountain, both units immediately took up positions from which they would launch the assault the following morning. And yes, by this time, the 1st Battalion, 506th Regiment, had already been assaulting Hill 900 for three days.
This is not a war for the hills...
On May 20, at 11:00 a.m., the final assault on Dong Ap Bia Mountain began. Airpower pounded the hill for two hours, followed by artillery fire for another 90 minutes. Then, four battalions simultaneously attacked the mountain from four sides. By midday, companies of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Regiment, reached the summit. Most of the day was then spent clearing bunkers. By 5:00 p.m., the epic battle for the forester's hut was over. The remnants of the 29th Regiment retreated into Laos, leaving the Americans with the useless "Mountain of the Crouching Beast." Or was it useful? Well, if so, why did the Americans abandon it on June 5? Zais commented on this fact:
This is not a war for the hills.
A reward notice for the head of Lieutenant Colonel Weldon Honeycutt, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Regiment, was published in the underground soldier's newspaper, GI Speaks.
And what about Honeycutt? He received the Distinguished Service Cross from the President of the United States. And another award from the soldiers. The GIs in Vietnam published their own underground newspaper, "GI Speaks." It placed an ad offering $10 for the head of the commander of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Regiment. His own soldiers later attempted to shoot him several times, but, unfortunately, the reward was never paid. The losses suffered by the US Army in this battle are not entirely clear. The Americans admit to 56 killed, 7 missing, and 367 wounded, but judging by the accounts of those who took part in the battle, the number was much higher, although the Vietnamese estimate of 1500 killed and wounded is most likely also inflated.
That same issue of Life magazine...
But the main outcome of the fighting was different. The bloody battle for the useless mountain provided arguments for those who advocated US withdrawal from the Vietnam War, such as Senator Edward Kennedy. On June 27, Life magazine published photographs of 241 American soldiers killed in Vietnam that week. Not all of them died on Hamburger Hill, but the public, shocked by the reports from Hill 937, perceived them as those who died there. As a result, Nixon ordered Abrams to use a less aggressive strategy in the future and avoid high casualties. The war had turned.
Information