PHOTOS: On this day May 11, 1969 – Paratroopers begin battle for Hamburger Hill

The Associated Press

U.S. paratroopers come to the aid of a fallen buddy after being evacuated from Hamburger Hill on the western edge of the A Shau Valley, May 1969. Troops of the 101st Airborne suffered heavy casualties in 10 days of close quarters fighting before finally taking Ap Bia Mountain. (AP Photo)

Van Es, The Associated Press

A trooper of the 101st Airborne Division attempts to save the life of a buddy at Dong Ap Bia Mountain, near South Vietnam's A Shau Valley on May 19, 1969. The man was seriously wounded in the last of repeated attempts by U.S. forces to capture enemy positions there.

Yvon Cornu, The Associated Press

101st Airborne Division troops wounded during the 11th and final assault on Dong Ap Bia, on the western edge of the A Shaw valley, are treated at a small command post waiting helicopter evacuation, May 21, 1969. Some 45 were wounded, one killed, in the drive against the North Vietnamese-held hill believed by U.S. intelligence officials to be used as a regimental headquarters.

Hugh Van Es, The Associated Press

A wounded U.S. paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division is helped through a blinding rainstorm by two medics after being evacuated from Dong Ap Bia during the 10-day battle for Hamburger Hill, May 1969. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces eventually dislodged communist forces from Dong Ap Bia, but the action touched off further political controversy in the United States.

The Associated Press

Infantrymen with the U.S. 101st Airborne Division provide security for a medic as he administers first aid for a wounded soldier, May 19, 1969. The rifleman, one of 200 Americans wounded in fighting for Dong Ap Bia, lies in a tiny clearing in the bamboo on the side of the mountain. (AP Photo)

Hugh Van Es, The Associated Press

Lt. Col. Weldon Honeycutt yells orders over field radio to company working its way up a ridgeline toward Dong Ap Bia, the 3,000-foot mountain dubbed "Hamburger Hill" by men of the 101st Airborne, who took it from the North Vietnamese this week, May 23, 1969. Honeycutt commands the Third Battalion of the 187th Infantry's Third Brigade, the unit which overran the well-fortified positions on the hill on the west of the Ashau valley.

The Associated Press

Two paratroopers with the U.S. 101st Airborne division bind the shoulder wound of a fellow paratrooper on the side of Dong Ap Bia mountain after a clash with entrenched North Vietnamese regulars, May 19, 1969. (AP Photo)

Yvon Cornu, The Associated Press

101st Airborne Division troops wounded during the 11th and final assault on Dong Ap Bia, on the western edge of the A Shaw valley, are treated at a small command post waiting helicopter evacuation, May 21, 1969. Some 45 were wounded, one killed, in the drive against the North Vietnamese-held hill believed by U.S. intelligence officials to be used as a regimental headquarters.

Yvon Cornu, The Associated Press

101st Airborne Division troops wounded during the 11th and final assault on Dong Ap Bia, on the western edge of the A Shaw valley, are treated at a small command post waiting helicopter evacuation, May 21, 1969. Some 45 were wounded, one killed, in the drive against the North Vietnamese-held hill believed by U.S. intelligence officials to be used as a regimental headquarters.

The Associated Press

Two paratroopers with the U.S. 101st Airborne division bind the shoulder wound of a fellow paratrooper on the side of Dong Ap Bia mountain after a clash with entrenched North Vietnamese regulars, May 19, 1969. (AP Photo)

The Associated Press

Two paratroopers with the U.S. 101st Airborne division bind the shoulder wound of a fellow paratrooper on the side of Dong Ap Bia mountain after a clash with entrenched North Vietnamese regulars, May 19, 1969. (AP Photo)

The Associated Press

A resupply helicopter settles into heavily-fortified Firebase Berchtesgaden overlooking the A Shau Valley in May, 1969. Two weeks earlier the hill was covered with trees, until the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division built the firebase in support of Apache Snow, the operation to take Ap Bia Mountain, also known as Hamburger Hill. (AP Photo)

Hugh Van Es, The Associated Press

A wounded U.S. paratrooper grimaces in pain as he awaits medical evacuation at base camp in the A Shau Valley near the Laos border in South Vietnam on May 19, 1969 during the Vietnam War. The 101st Airborne Division attacked the North Vietnamese Communist forces at the 3,000-foot Ap Bia Mountain, or Hill 937, in the 10-day battle known as Hamburger Hill by the GIs. Forty-six Americans were killed before the mountain was taken, and the death toll for North Vietnamese is around 517.

The Associated Press

Infantrymen with the U.S. 101st Airborne Division provide security for a medic as he administers first aid for a wounded soldier, May 19, 1969. The rifleman, one of 200 Americans wounded in fighting for Dong Ap Bia, lies in a tiny clearing in the bamboo on the side of the mountain. (AP Photo)

The Associated Press

U.S. paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division rest atop the damaged crest of the 3000-foot Ap Bia Mountain on the western edge of the A Shau Valley, one mile east of Laos, in South Vietnam on May 21, 1969 during the Vietnam War. (AP Photo)

Ghislain Bellorget, The Associated Press

Firebase Berchtesgaden on the eastern edge of the A Shau valley provides fire support for troops sweeping the communist-held valley in Operation Apache Snow, which became known as the battle for Hamburger Hill.