Hamburger Hill: The Brutal Battle for Dong Ap Bia: May 11-20, 1969

Synopsis: The battle for Ap Bia Mountain (Hill 937), was one of the fiercest of the entire Vietnam War. On May 10, 1969, Army, Marine Corps, and ARVN forces kicked off Operation Apache Snow. It was finally time to clean out the notorious A Shau Valley. The next day, elements of the 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles, made initial contact with NVA forces on the lower reaches of Hill 937.

The ten days of combat that followed became the human meat grinder known around the world as Hamburger Hill. The firestorm of controversy that sprang up around this incredibly bloody battle has long overshadowed the facts of the battle itself and the campaign of which it was a part. Now, in author Zaffiri’s masterful account of the battle, the full story, from the high command down to the individual Screaming Eagle on the mountain, is revealed.

Praise for Hamburger Hill

“[Samuel Zaffiri] skillfully blends his narrative with anecdotal material. It is the many chilling, sometimes poignant, vignettes that make the addition of this volume to any soldier’s bookshelf a must.”—Military Review
 
“Vietnam combat veteran Samuel Zaffiri . . . presents the action and decision making at Ap Bia in remarkably forceful detail.”—Vietnam Magazine
 
“Probably no other Vietnam battle better illustrates . . . Sherman’s dictum that war is hell. Mr. Zaffiri focuses on the incredible horror and hardship faced by the soldier on the ground. . . . [His] narrative is viscerally graphic. . . . Zaffiri’s realistic and authoritative account deserves to be read. By dramatically describing the assault on Hamburger Hill, the author has raised anew controversial questions about the Vietnam War that will be debated for a long time to come.”—Army Magazine