The battle for height "Hamburger"

By mid-1969, US and South Vietnamese forces had repeatedly carried out operations in the Aschau Valley near the Laos border. One of the “entrances” from the “ Ho Chi Minh trail ” to South Vietnam ran through this valley, which was used by the North Vietnamese forces to reach the approaches to Hue , one of the country's largest cities ^[1] . Despite a number of operations, this area continued to be controlled by communist forces. On May 10, 1969, another Apache Snow operation began, conducted by the US Army and Marine Corps with the support of the South Vietnamese Army .

On the second day of the operation, the battalion of the 101st US Airborne Division approached altitude 937 (known among the local population as Ap-Bia or Dong-Ap-Bia), which, as it turned out, was occupied by the enemy. The first assault on the heights failed, encountering strong enemy resistance. Only later did it become known that the regiment of the North Vietnamese army was at an altitude, creating many well-fortified positions with the skillful use of the mountainside and terrain. The second assault attempt was also unsuccessful. In the future, a single US battalion stormed the heights occupied by the enemy regiment almost daily, but suffered losses and was forced to retreat each time. Discontent with the actions of the division commander, who continued to organize senseless attacks on heights of no strategic value, was growing among American soldiers. The soldiers called it “Hamburger” because it “chewed” people like meat for hamburgers . Only on May 20 , having received reinforcements, did American forces manage to break through to the summit of Dong-Ap-Bia and put the few surviving defenders to flight.

The battle for 937 was far from the most bloody or fierce battle of the Vietnam War. The loss of US forces in ten days amounted to 46 soldiers killed and 400 wounded, while 633 corpses of North Vietnamese soldiers remained at a height, and in addition, an unknown number of corpses were carried to Laos. Altitude 937 did not really have any strategic value, and all attacks on it were organized not to capture the altitude itself, but to destroy the large enemy forces entrenched on it as part of the " find and destroy " strategy adopted by the American command in 1965. The battle gained fame only thanks to the report of the Associated Press correspondent, who described the fatigue and bitterness of American soldiers after numerous unsuccessful attacks. The theme of the battle for heights, “Hamburger,” was voiced in the US Congress , where congressional leaders led by Edward Kennedy condemned what they called a waste of American lives. The sense of meaninglessness of the battle intensified in American society after it became known that in early June, American forces left 937 altitude of no value to them, and a few weeks later it was again occupied by North Vietnamese troops. On June 27, Life magazine published photos of 241 American soldiers who died in Vietnam from enemy actions in one week, in late May and early June; although only a few soldiers who died at the height of the Hamburger were on this list, many Americans felt that all the victims were victims of this useless battle.

Due to the sharp reaction of the anti-war circles, President R. Nixon, after the battle for the height of 937, ordered the commander of the American troops in Vietnam, General K. Abrams, to avoid further battles with heavy losses and use a less aggressive strategy. Thus, the battle, not the most significant by the standards of the Vietnam War, unexpectedly led to changes in the overall US military strategy in this war.

• In 1987, the feature film "Hamburger Heights" was shot, which is usually named among the most famous films about the Vietnam War. The key phrase of the film, “Don't mean nothin '”, is sometimes perceived as a characteristic of the entire Vietnam War.
• Episode 7 “The Importance of the Hills. Vietnam 1968-1970 years "- The battlefield - Vietnam / Battleground Vietnam. War in the Jungle (Edward Feuerherd) [2005]
• Mentioned in the 1998 Big Lebowski movie.

• Davidson F. B. War in Vietnam (1946-1975) = Vietnam at War: The History 1946-1975. - M .: Izografus, Eksmo, 2002 .-- S. 816.