For this case study, I will cover the Battle of Dong Ap Bia, also known as "Hamburger Hill", one of the bloodiest and most infamous events of the Vietnam War. This battle took place from May 10 to 20, 1969 in the A Shau Valley in Vietnam. This battle took place during "Operation Apache Snow", which was the second part of a three-phase campaign aimed at destroying North Vietnam Army (NVA) base areas in the isolated valley of 'To Shau1. It was not the battle with the highest casualties, but because it took place near the end of the Vietnam War, when it had become very unpopular with the American public, it was the subject of excessively negative political and media coverage. It became the focal point of the media and launched a debate about our military strategy that led to a major turning point in the war. The debate was simply whether the cost of American lives was worth taking a hill that didn't matter. strategic value since shortly after the capture of the hill, it was abandoned. This debate led to "Vietnamization", which was President Nixon's plan to slowly reduce American forces in Vietnam while strengthening South Vietnam's military and political influence to prepare them for a communist takeover. and allow the United States to leave the conflict with its honor intact.3 Shortly thereafter, after the Battle of Hamburger Hill, President Nixon announced the withdrawal of 25,000 troops by July 1969, followed by another 35,000 in December of the same year. History After the final bloody assault on May 20, a soldier wrote “Hamburger Hill” on a piece of a food ration box. and nailed him to a tree at the foot of Hill 937 and underneath another soldier wrote "was it worth it?" As previously noted, the Battle of "Hamburger Hill" was part of Operation Apach...... middle of paper...... History, accessed March 10, 2014, http://www.us-history .com /pages/h1875.htmlJames H. Wilbanks. Proquest Military Collection “Vietnam”, June 2009 http://search.proquest.com/docview/195759868/fulltext?accountid=16366 Kelly Boian, MAJ, “Major General Melvin Zais and Hamburger Hill” (Command and staff of the United States Army College) 35-42Samuel Zaffiri, Hamburger Hill (New York: The Baltimore Publishing Group, 1988), 36 “The Battle Of Hamburger Hill During The Vietnam War,” Vietnam Magazine, June 12, 2006, http:/ /www.historynet. com/battle-for-hamburger-hill-during-the-vietnam-war.htm “The Battle of Hamburger Hill during the Vietnam War,” Vietnam Magazine, June 12, 2006, http://www.historynet.com/battle -for-hamburger-hill-during-the-vietnam-war.htm “Vietnamization” History, accessed March 10, 2014, http://www.history.com/topics/vietnam-war/vietnamization