154 HAMBURGER HILL
Okinawa took place during one engagement, whereas Doss’s Medal of Honor cita-
tion describes his actions as taking place over three separate engagements over a
23- day period (29 April, 2 May, and 21 May 1945).Hamburger Hill (1987)
Synopsis
Written and co- produced by James Carabatsos and directed by John Irvin, Ham-
burger Hill is an American war film about the siege of Ap Bia Mountain (aka “Hill
937” or “Hamburger Hill”) near the Laotian border in May 1969 by U.S. forces.
Though ultimately successful, the assault came at a high cost in American casualties,
and the conquered position was soon abandoned because it had no strategic value.Background
At the height of the Vietnam War, 1,800 soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 3rd Bat-
talion, 187th Infantry Regiment (part of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division)
conducted an assault on Dong Ap Bia: a 3,074- foot- high mountain situated a mile
east of the Laotian border in northwestern South Vietnam. Designated Hill 937,
Ap Bia was a heavi ly fortified enemy stronghold on steep, rugged, densely wooded
terrain, defended by two North Viet nam ese Army (NVA) battalions numbering at
least 1,000 men. What ensued was a grueling 11- day siege (10–20 May 1969),
punctuated by torrential rains, that came to be known as the Battle of Hamburger
Hill. The Americans took Hill 937 but not before expending 1,000 tons of bombs,
42 tons of napalm, and 19,000 artillery rounds— and sustaining heavy casualties
(70 killed; 372 wounded). Confirmed enemy dead numbered 633. Just 16 days later
(5 June 1969) the U.S. Army abandoned Hill 937 because it held no strategic value:
a move that generated public outrage. Screenwriter James Carabatsos served in Viet-
nam in 1968–1969 but was not at Hamburger Hill (he was in a military police
platoon with the 1st Air Calvary Division at Quan Loi near the Cambodian bor-
der). Offended by films like Apocalypse Now that depicted U.S. soldiers in Vietnam
as deranged war criminals or renegades, Carabatsos set out to write a film script
that would highlight the extreme tenacity and valor exhibited by troops at Ham-
burger Hill as the best way to counter demeaning ste reo types and recuperate the
Vietnam- era soldier’s reputation with the American public. To ensure authentic-
ity, Carabatsos spent years interviewing dozens of veterans who fought at Hill 937
as he developed his screenplay, which was completed in 1981. It would take Cara-
batsos and his co- producer, Marcia Nasatir (The Big Chill), another five years to find
the financing that would bring his script to the screen. In the meantime British
director John Irvin agreed to direct the film; Irvin had been in Vietnam in 1969,
making a BBC documentary, so Carabatsos’s script resonated with him.Production
Before securing a production deal with RKO Pictures in 1986, the filmmakers
hired Col. Joseph B. Covey, Jr. (U.S. Army, Retired), the actual commander of the