Hamburger Hill Battle Site: Walking the Ridgelines of Hill 937

The battle of Hamburger Hill ranks among the most well known clashes of the Vietnam War, alongside the siege at Khe Sanh 1968, the battle of Hill 875 in 1967 and the Ia Drang Valley 1965.

What started as a routine operation to clear areas from NVA forces turned into 11 days of fierce assault against one of the most well defended positions of the war. The NVA had fortified the steep and narrow ridges of Hill 937 to guard their supply routes through the Ashau Valley.

The name Hamburger Hill came from the battle itself. Troops said the hill chewed men up like meat through a grinder. After 11 days of assault, the nickname stuck.

What the Battle of Hamburger Hill Was Actually About

The US troops landed on LZs north and west of the mountain. As they probed the area they ran into heavy resistance and it soon became clear what they were up against. The 29th NVA regiment were waiting in heavily fortified positions on the ridges stretching out in all directions from the summit.

Lt. Col. Honeycutt first attacked along three directions before deciding to focus along just two routes with Charlie and Bravo Companies. Over the course of the battle, Alpha and Delta Companies would take over their positions.

After 11 days of close and violent combat, the Rakkasans, with assistance from other airborne units and an ARVN unit, took the hill. The toll was severe. The Rakkasans suffered more than 60% casualties. The NVA’s death count was around 600, in reality probably more.

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The Controversy Around Hamburger Hill

The battle attracted heavy scrutiny from media and politicians, even as it was still underway. The fierceness of the fighting drew press to this very remote area. One of the combat leaders remembered thinking, when he saw the media show up at the Battalion CP, that this was shaping up to be a major fight.

The criticism sharpened when American units left the hill just a couple of months later. Politicians and media questioned why the Army would sacrifice so many men and then abandon the position.

That criticism misread the mission. Hamburger Hill, and the larger Operation Apache Snow it was part of, was never about taking and holding real estate. It was about taking on the enemy and driving him out of the Ashau Valley so he couldn’t use it as a logistics center. By that measure, the operation succeeded. Over the coming years, American units backed by fire support bases on the eastern ridges operated at will in the valley.

A movie was made about the battle in 1987. As a war movie it’s worth watching, but when it comes to describing the battle itself, basically the only thing they got right was that an American unit was fighting to take a hill.

Finding the Real Battle Site on Hill 937

I’d been on the hill before, in 2012, but that was before any serious research into exact locations had started. I followed the regular visitor trail to the monument near the summit and wasn’t even sure it was the summit at that point.

This visit was different. With the 50th anniversary approaching in May 2019, Mike Smith, a 2nd Platoon, Delta Company veteran from the Rakkasans, the 3rd Battalion of the 187th Regiment of the 101st Airborne, contacted me. Mike is also the Treasurer of the Weldon F Honeycutt/Hamburger Hill Chapter of the National Rakkasan Association.

We discussed the work the late Frank Boccia had been doing to pin down exact unit locations during the battle. Due to irregularities in the After Action Report and inaccurate maps, it had always been difficult to know precisely where the battle was fought. Boccia was the leader of 1st Platoon, Bravo Company and wrote a book called “The Crouching Beast” about his time in Vietnam.

He then wanted to confirm the coordinates they’d settled on. The best way to verify them was to go there.

We were three people on this trip. Myself, a friend on his first visit to Vietnam, and a friend based in Saigon who had long wanted to see the hill. We drove west from Hue toward the Ashau Valley, stopped briefly at the old Fire Support Base Bastogne, cleared permits in Aluoi, and continued west toward the Laotian border.

The Walk Up: From the Trailhead to the Summit of Hill 937

The regular route approaches the hill from the southeast past the Hill 900 area and up to a monument. The climb starts with roughly a kilometer’s ascent, with steps installed on the steeper sections. The last few hundred meters wind through jungle before reaching the Hill 900 area. There are a few signs along the trail pointing to sites where events took place during the battle and an NVA field hospital. From what we understand, there’s nothing much to see at those sites.

A little north of the Hill 900 area sits a monument built by the local government. A convenient rest stop before the last 500 meters to the summit. They’ve put up a sign at the summit now. We stopped for pictures and some storytelling, then moved west through thick elephant grass looking for any trails that could lead us to the scenes of the main assault.

Walking Alpha Company’s Ridge: Where the Final Charge Came From

Almost all the way across the summit we found a trail heading north. A quick check of our position confirmed it would lead us to the ridge where first Bravo Company, then Delta Company, fought their way up. We decided to check it after exploring the rest of the summit first.

Maybe 50 meters past the summit the elephant grass gave way to jungle. Our guide asked if we should really go in, given how dense the jungle was and how steep the slope. We went in.

After months of research and years of studying the battle, and listening to those who were there, walking that ridge felt like graduation day.

The steepness of the hill was the first thing that hit us. How was it even possible to fight here? During the last days of the battle there was nothing but mud and blown up tree trunks mixed with bomb craters. The jungle has since taken all of that back.

It was from this ridge that the final charge came. On the 20th of May, as Alpha Company was clearing the hill of battered NVA soldiers, one M60 machine gunner had enough of crouching behind a small berm. He stood up and ran straight into the enemy fire, clearing the closest bunkers within seconds before moving on to clear more bunkers and spider holes. His platoon leader reacted quickly and ordered the rest of the men to follow. In only a few minutes the machine gunner, joined by the rest of his platoon, stood on the summit of Hill 937.

We walked down the ridge perhaps 250 meters. To the northeast was the ridge where Delta was fighting in the final days. Back then the terrain had been bombed to pieces and the two companies could see each other and provide covering fire. The jungle makes that impossible now.

Bravo Company’s Ridge and the Clearing

Back at the summit we followed the north-going trail we’d marked earlier. On the way down I tried to imagine the fighting on the 18th of May when Delta Company assaulted over open terrain straight into waiting NVA forces. It was steep, muddy and deadly.

The terrain matched Alpha’s ridge closely. We reached the location of “the Clearing,” which anyone who’s read Frank Boccia’s book will know. This is where Bravo Company was stuck for several days. To enter, the men had to climb a very steep and narrow ridgeline, so narrow they moved in a single file line. The NVA had chosen the spot well. Anyone wanting to move further up the hill had to pass through one of the most effective kill zones of the war.

From there we continued down another 150 meters or so. We believe we passed the location of the Company Command Post.

Walking back up, in the same direction the Rakkasans fought, gives a better sense of what they were up against. The ridge is steep in places and in parts just ridiculously narrow. Over the course of the battle, through artillery and air support grinding down the resistance, combined with the skill and bravery of the men on the ground, the Rakkasans fought past a well dug-in and determined enemy.

What We Found on Hill 937 Fifty Years Later

On the slopes we found remnants of old NVA fighting positions. Not intact, but clear enough to see where the bunker lines had been.

During my research I came to the conclusion that nobody who knew these ridges’ historical significance had been down here since the battle. The local tribal people from the village at the foot of the mountain walk through more or less daily, but for those looking for the battle site, this part of the mountain had remained undiscovered.
For those of us who walked the hill that February day in 2019, it was an experience none of us will forget. I’ve traveled to and explored war sites in Vietnam for many years.

This was a high point. The battle was among the most famous of the last century, and it was with a solemn sense of reverence that my friends and I walked those ridges.

This journey wouldn’t have been possible without the veterans who provided so much insight and advice: Mike Smith, the late Frank Boccia, Bob Harkins and Dennis Helms. They provided material and guidance before and after the visit, and also contributed to the video featured in this article. As with any research, it raised new questions and opened up new areas to explore. I’ll certainly be back on the hill.