Operation Apache Snow and the Battle for Hamburger Hill

[Bill Farnie]

10 May 1969


At 0700 Hrs the first 400 men of the 1/506th and 3/187th of the 3rd Brigade 101st Airborne Division mounted sixty-four Hueys and combat assaulted into the A Shau Valley.


It was a sight I'll never forget. The largest airmobile assault of the Vietnam War and that was only the beginning. Also CA-ing were the 2/501st 101st Abn., the 9th Marine Regiment, units of the 1st and 3rd battalions of the 1st ARVN Inf. Div. and also involved was the 3/5th Cavalry. We flew south across the A Shau and then north along the Laotian border using the walls of the A Shau as a screen to our LZ's. It was a plan that paid off for we didn't lose any choppers, unlike the 1st Air Cavalry did during Operation Delaware. Lessons were well learned from the 1st Cav's operation in April 1968. While the 3/187th and A, B and C companies of 1/506th air assaulted into their LZ's, my companys lift turned eastward and landed right smack in the middle of the valley near Ta Bat on the Rao Lao River and secured the LZ for engineers of the 101st Abn. to build FSB Currahee.

Everyone knew that the A Shau Valley was one of those places in Vietnam that was owned by the enemy and that became evident from the first day. All the units RIF-ing the valley were finding bunkers and having sporadic contact with the 3/187th in contact in the vicinity of Dong Ap Bai.


11 May 1969

Once again signs of the enemy were being found by all the units with discoverys of bunkers, hooches and food stores. C/1/506 came under an hour long mortar attack that wounded 22 men. The 3/187th making their way up Hill 937 encountered stiff resistance and from documents taken from an NVA officer it was estimated that the 29th NVA Regiment was on the mountain with a strength of between twelve and eighteen hundred troops.


12 May 1969

With the exception of B/1/506 engaging three NVA and killing one of them the day was uneventful for the 1/506. The 3/187th was another story. After pounding Hill 937 all day with air strikes and artillery fire, B and D companies 3/187th had heavy contact on Hill 937 and when all the companies of the 3/187th moved into NDP’s, all the NDP’s were probed and at midnight were hit with very accurate mortar fire.

13 May 1969


The units of the 1/506th kept finding bunkers, hootches and stores of food with A/1/506 engaging and killing a trail watcher. The 3/187th was in heavy contact now and the battalion commander LtCol. Honeycutt requested the 1/506th to reinforce his companies.


14 May 1969

The 1/506th was still discovering bunkers and encountering resistance while on the way to support the 3/187th. The 3/187th failed once again at an attempt to take Hill 937 meeting stiff and determined enemy resistance so pulled back and setup NDP’s while Spooky throughout the night raked the area between the 3/187th positions, west to the Laotian border.


15 May 1969

The 1/506’s progress moving to help the 3/187th was being impeded by increasing contact with enemy units offering stiff resistance. Once again the Rakkasans of the 3/187th assault on Hill 937 was turned back although ground was taken and the first line of bunkers destroyed. B/3/187 suffered the first of two friendy fire incidence's when gunships fired into the company CP.

My company, D/1/506 had been running RIF’s out of FSB Currahee daily and were also discovering bunkers. We were put on alert to possibly make a CA from Currahee to also support the 3/187th



16 May 1969


A and B companies 1/506th encountered heavy contact trying to get in position to support the 3/187th. The 3/187th once again was thwarted from gaining any ground. LtCol. Honeycutt was frustrated thinking that it was taking the 1/506th to long to get to him but the Currahees were in their own heavy contacts on Hills 800 and 900 . It became apparent that the NVA were bringing in reinforcements/replacements from Laos so my company ( minus the 4th platoon ) was ordered to make a CA from FSB Currahee and setupon and patrol the border area to try and interdict the NVA infiltrating. We made contact in the afternoon when my platoon was ambushed resulting in three WIA’s. There were five enemy KIA’s, most likely killed by ARA.


17 May 1969


The 1/506th fighting up the mountain crests still hadn’t arrived in a support position so LtCol. Honeycutt put the day “on hold” to prepare for the assault by re-supplying.


18 May 1969


After getting to within 100 meters from the crest of Hill 937, which had been named Hamburger Hill by the 101st troopers, Honeycutt decided to withdraw due to torrential rains and the fact that the 1/506th, still in heavy contact couldn’t help in an assault. Honeycutt requested another company of the 506th but General Zais, the 101st Abn. Division commander, was hesitant to send one so he flew to Honeycutts CP and after a heated exchange with the general Honeycutt told him that the 3/187th deserves to take the hill and if he didn’t agree with that, to fire him. Gen. Zais agreed to send him A/2/506th.

My company ambushed a NVA platoon near the border and with ARA support five of the enemy were killed and we found numerous blood trails leading to Laos.


19 May 1969


The 1/506th were again in heavy contact but had fought to a position where they would be able to join in on the assaults of the hills. This day was also spent getting reinforcements in preparation for what was hoped would be a final assault tomorrow. Units of the 2/3rd ARVN flew from Hue to 1000 meters south of Dong Ap Bai and three companies of the 2/501st 101st Abn. were airlifted from FSB Airborne and humped to within 400 meters of the base of Hamburger Hill.


20 May 1969


After two hours of air strikes beginning around dawn and an intense artillery barrage, at 1000 hours the 3/187th and the units of the 506th, the companys of the 2/501 and the ARVN units attacked the hills known as Dong Ap Bai. There are too many details to go into here but in the end Hamburger Hill was taken with the remaining NVA retreating and trying to get to Laos. The 4th platoon CAed from FSB Currahee and joined the company and we were pulled from the border area, and us and B/1/506 setup on the southwestern draw of Dong Ap Bai and caught a large force of NVA in the open fleeing to Laos. We called in air strikes and arty and engaged them. The jets made passes up and down the draw strafing the enemy. I don’t think any of them survived. The rest of the day was spent mopping up. "mopping up" is a term not to be taken lightly. There were many contacts with the fleeing enemy.


21 May 1969

The companies of the 3/187th were extracted and sent to Eagle Beach for a well deserved stand down while the 1/506th, 2/501st and the ARVN units continued looking for the NVA with sporadic contact and destroying any enemy bunkers.


My company was ambushed twice on 31 May and had five WIA’s. Enemy casualties were unknown. All units continued to find and destroy bunker complexes. The companies of the 1/506th were rotated in and out of Eagle Beach for stand downs during the time period 21 May - 8 June.


Operation Apache Snow continued until 8 June with little enemy contact.

9 June

Operation Montgomery Rendezvous begins in the A Shau Valley

[Bombardier]

Feckin excellent post Bill sal;

What exactly is a hootche ? :confused:

[Matzos]

Great post :)

[Bill Farnie]

Bomber,
Probably my lousy spelling. A hooch is a hut that could be anything from a “house” made of bamboo or just a simple lean to. The hut version usually had a tunnel underneath for storage of arms, a shelter against air strikes and Arty, and as an escape route.

Here’s an example of a hooch we found in the mountains west of Camp Evans

http://pictureposter.allbrand.nu/pictures/frisbee/mynampics/houch1.jpg

[Bombardier]

Excellent Pic Bill.
I had an idea that it might be some kind of shelter, just wasnt sure what the NVA etc used them for.
Thanks Mate sal;

[Reloader]

Bill,
many thanks for sharing that with us and for reminding me that while some of us were getting on with our ordinary lives, a life and death struggle was going on in other parts of the world.
Personally, and as a contrast to what you and your brothers-in-arms were going through, I had just returned from my first trip in the Merchant Navy and on May 20th, became engaged to my girlfriend, who is now my wife, so it was a very happy time for us.

RESPECT!

[Frisco-Kid]

Bill, thanks for the great outline of the battle for Hamburger Hill. I was discharged 1JAN69 and I remember following the battle the best I could on TV and in the papers as it unfolded. I was quite concerned for you guys, knowing what you must have been going through. I'm glad you got spit out the other end of the meat grinder in relatively good shape to be able to become a friend on these sites.

Welcome Home, Brother Screaming Eagle!

[Bill Farnie]

Tom,
I was quite fortunate, me the rest of Delta Company missed the meat grinder that Hill 937 was, for we were not involved in the assaults on the hills and we didn’t have any KIA’s, just wounded. Actually, one of the men wounded on the 31st when we were humping back to FSB Currahee was shot up pretty bad with a wound to his back and Doc Daniels said, at the 2002 506th reunion, that he didn’t think he would make it when he patched him up for he thought his spine was shattered. No one could remember his name and no one wanted to know it figuring that if we didn’t have a name, we couldn’t find it on The Wall. Hamburger Hill was taken on the 20th but the fighting with the remnants of the 29th NVA Regiment lasted until June. Anyway, when the 4th platoon joined us and we met up with B/1/506 on Hill 900, every man in Bravo Company we saw had the “thousand yard stare” …… for days. We saw a bit of heavy action on the border but nothing like what the rest of the 3rd Brigade went through. Don't mean nothin'

[Frisco-Kid]

Bill,

the whole thing was a crap shoot or the luck of the draw, and you and I were winners. Your company could have just as easily been sent up the hill in support as any other. Because of the roll of the dice, you guys had other things occupying you. Also, I like to think that I was a winner sometimes because I was good at what I did. Like the night when the troopers on each side of me were killed; I rolled over into a prone position instead of sitting or standing like they did. The whole war was a meat grinder and we came out the other end in fairly good shape.

Yeah, I've buried alot of the names and faces of the dead and wounded to establish a comfort zone. I guess that's normal for most of us. A built-in survival mechanism. I think some of the guys with the more serious problems [PTSD and Survivor's Guilt] weren't able to do that. Sometimes the memories come through, and that's okay. They deserve to be remembered. I, fortunately, learned the lesson a long time ago; it's the Way Of War; the Luck Of The Draw. Don't Mean Nothin'.

Welcome Home, my friend.

[rotorwash]

Bill, your account was incredible. I've read it about four times and dug up my stuff on the battle and tried to fit you in the action. The southwestern draw you guys were watching was the main NVA escape off the mountain and NVA KIA's in the draw weren't included in the 600 plus hands on body count.

If you don't mind, I have some info I would like to add, but I don't want to clutter up your excellant story.

Rotor

[Zofo]

An interesting and thoughtful post Bill. Thanks for this, I enjoy learning more about the war and thank goodness I wasn't there. Being a Brit AND too young anyway saved me from that. Again, thanks for your perspective.

[Bill Farnie]

rotor,
feel free to post anything you want. Most of what I wrote, with the exception of what my company and regiment did during Op APache Snow (I have a copy of the 506th operational report for OAS), is from research I did taken from books and various internet sites. I'm looking forward to your insights/input.

I'm not sure if those in the draw were included in the body count. I think that they were not. The official BC was 633 but I've seen estimates that almost reach 1000.

[rotorwash]

Thanks Bill,

Everything I've seen does not incude the draw in the 633 body count. The brigade commander was having a little trouble with the press right then so I think he wanted to only include bodies that they could be sure of. Your guys did find about ten shell shocked NVA on top of the hill, four were chained to trees with signs on them that said "kill Americans."

This story I found when we were surveying some Green Beret ops that went wrong, I think you might find it interesting. There were two LRP's inserted at the base of Dong Ap Bia between the time the Cav pulled out and April 69, one was Green Beret, the other was SOG from FOB1. Both disappeared before they had even made their initial sitrep. On the 20th of April, 69, a six man LRP from the 101st's L Company 75th Inf (Ranger) was inserted in the general area where the road up the valley meets the road coming from Laos. Naturally, they were not enthused given the previous history. The LZ they were dropped in was about three hundred meters NW of their planned LZ and only about five hundred meters from Laos. To their chagrin it turned out to be an abandoned mine field, but rains had uncovered the mines and washed out a safe passage so they made it safely into an NDP up the side of the mountain. In retrospect it was thought the minefield may have been to their advantage if all of the possible LZ's were carefully watched and the minefield neglected.

The ndp was only about twenty meters from a trail and all night long they watched the bobbing heads of groups of NVA 20 to 30 strong climb the mountain. About midnight they heard the gasoline motor of a generator start up, it ran until about 3 AM. On April 21, they decided to move up the mountain and find another patrol base that would be a little farther off the trail and give them better commo with LZ Blaze. That afternon they heard sounds indicating bunkers were being built up the hill from them. Later a heavy rain storm moved in but was gone before dark. That night they heard more movement on the trail and the generator ran for about an hour. April 22 they remained where they were and that night the generator ran from midnight until almost daylight. They had been drenched by another late afternoon rain. They considered moving up closer to the generator but rejected the idea. The 23rd passed much the same as the previous day but they were instructed to move to their primary LZ for pickup at 1800. As regular as clockwork the storm moved in again and this time it dropped hailstones. As the rto pushed the talk button, the radio was struck by lightening. The handset melted, burning his hand and the side was blown out of the radio. It also set off a claymore in his rucksack which in turn triggered claymores and a percussion grenade in another ruck. At least two of the guys were blown clear out of the perimeter although most of the force from the blast went straight up, clearing a hole through which daylight could be seen. All of their equipment was shredded. Only one team member was uninjured, the rest suffering from different degrees of blast paralysis and burns. The worst case was completely paralyzed from the waist down. Fortunately the second radio was functional, they were successfully medevaced and within a week were all back on their feet.

Rotorwash

[Zofo]

"god" didn't give them much change did he? did anyone find out what had happened to the LRPs?

[rotorwash]

Hey Zofo, long time.
No one ever found out about the teams to my knowledge. When a team was dropped in the lz, the aircraft scooted out as quickly as possible. They would usually make a couple of false insertions in likely looking lzs and then make a some more after they had dropped the team. The team would move off the lz and "lie dog" until they were sure they were alone, then make their initial sitrep. The aircraft would remain close enough for radio contact until the intial sitrep, then head for home. If the team was in trouble, they would call for help immediately and the aircraft would try to get them out. If no sitrep was received the aircraft did not have any options, they didn't know where the team was or which way they left the lz. If no contact was made, they could only assume the team was intercepted quickly before they realized they were in trouble and could call for help. Tough break, usually a quick death and a shallow grave.

Rotor

p.s. guys, I just found out that the term "hootch" has been around as long as Americans have fought in Asia. It is a corruption of a Japanese word for house, "uichi."

[Bill Farnie]

RW,
A very interesting read. I do remember reading something about LRRP’s in the A Shau in April 69' before OP Apache Snow began.

In the 101st Abn publication “Rendezvous With Destiny” for the summer of 69’ issue they mention a 2/17 Cav recon unit being in the A Shau checking on info found in documents taken from two different captured NVA troops that told about a new NVA Base Area/warehouse in the A Shau which was one of the factors which made the higher – highers decide to go back into the valley and this time stay awhile, or as long as the freaky A Shau weather would permit. One of the reasons the SF camp called A Shau fell, was due to the bad weather and the inability of air assets to be much help in its defense.

I will try and find the document I have about the LRRP team, I do remember reading about them while doing some research, and see if I can post it as a part of this thread.

[Bombardier]

Excellent after battle reports. You will need to have Adobe PDF reader.

Operation Apache Snow, After Action Report, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 18 Jun 1969 (http://carlisle-www.army.mil/cgi-bin/usamhi/DL/showdoc.pl?docnum=495)

Operation Apache Snow, After Action Report, 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, 22 Jun 1969 (http://carlisle-www.army.mil/cgi-bin/usamhi/DL/showdoc.pl?docnum=497)

Operation Apache Snow, After Action Report, 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry, 20 Jun 1969 (http://carlisle-www.army.mil/cgi-bin/usamhi/DL/showdoc.pl?docnum=496)

I found these very interesting, hope you do too sal;

[Bill Farnie]

Bomber,
Thanks for the links. I have the 1st Battalion, 506 Infantry AAR from the 506th Associations site and we of Delta Company have found it has a few inaccuracies and one major omission. It doesn't mention our CA to the Laotian border to do interdiction. The only reason we think that its omitted is that we know we spent a lot of time in Laos. Just like the battle for Hill 996, it's like it never happpened, but there are over 30 former members of our old company in contact and we do remember our role in Op Apache Snow and Hill 996.

[Bombardier]

Bill your article is now posted in our submitted article section HERE (http://www.militaryimages.net/articles/index.php?page=index_v2&id=13&c=18)

Im gradually getting around to posting these great articles in our new article section.

Ps I have added a smaller version of one of your posted images of your good self, I think it adds a good feel to it. sal;

[Bill Farnie]

Andy I'm honored and what a nice touch with the pic. Thank you

Bill