Hamburger Hill Research Paper

Words: 535
Pages: 3

Hamburger Hill, Was it Worth the Cost

Why did America get involved in Vietnam in the first place? The country as a whole was mortified by the prospect of communism spreading thought the world. It looked at the time that someone had to step in to prevent the entirely of South East Asia from falling under communist control. Then right after the Gulf of Tonkin incident where a US patrol boat was allegedly fired on by the North Vietnamese Navy. President Johnson used that event as a springboard for US involvement in the Vietnam War.
The North Vietnamese Army (NVA) was using the A Shau Valley as an entry point to conduct attacks into South Vietnamese territory then escaping back into Laos knowing that the US Rules of Engagement (ROE) prevented
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LTC Honeycutt wanted to have his BN CP on that hill. On 10 May 1969 the 101st Airborne along with a BN of ARVN troops arrived and started the assault on Hill 937. They scratched, clawed and fought their way up that hill finally seizing in on 20 May 1969. Although victory came at a price, 70 KIA and over 370 WIA on the American side and well over 600 KIA for the North Vietnamese, the attack was a success and Dong Ap Bia was American held territory.
This battle took place in the mountainous terrain of northern South Vietnam. The weather was certainly not on the side of the US forces as it rained much of the time causing the trudge up the steep slopes to be all the more grueling. As for the terrain obviously the North Vietnamese had the upper hand when it came to OAKOC all the way around.
The Americans clearly had the advantage from a technological point of view. Further, with the use of the helicopter they also had an edge up when it came to timely resupply. From a C3 perspective I am hard pressed to differentiate who had the advantage. It is obvious that The North Vietnamese had an intelligence advantage as they knew what was coming and the Americans seriously underestimated the enemy in this battle. Clearly the Americans had superior doctrine and training to be able to seize a seemingly unprintable objective from an advisory with all of the advantages