This article will examine how an unshakable adversary and difficult terrain combined to negate the effects of American technology. The Battle of Hamburger Hill was a Vietnam War battle that was fought by the United States and South Vietnam against North Vietnamese forces from May 10 to 20, 1969. The battle took place on Mount Ap Bia among the rugged mountains shrouded from the jungle. along the Laotian border of South Vietnam. Ap Bia Mountain anchors the northwestern corner of the A Shau Valley in southern Vietnam. Since 1966, the valley has been a major infiltration route for communist forces from the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos to the coastal cities of the northern I Corps. Mount Ap Bia dominates the northern valley, with its 937 meters of altitude. Official histories of the clash call it Hill 937. American soldiers who fought there nicknamed it “Hamburger Hill,” suggesting that those who fought on the hill were “chewed like a hamburger” (E-History, 2012). The fighting on Hamburger Hill took place during Operation Apache Snow, the second part of a three-phase campaign intended to annihilate North Vietnamese Army (NVA) bases in the treacherous A Shau Valley. Five infantry battalions led the attack under Major General Melvin Zais, commander of the 101st Airborne Division. Three units were American (the 1/506th, 2/501st and 3/187th Infantry) and two were from the 1st Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Division (the 2/1st and 4/1st ARVN) . Colonel Joseph Conmy, commander of the 3rd Brigade of the 101st Airborne, controlled and led the main effort of the attack. His plan called for each of the five battalions to make an "air assault" into the valley by helicopter on May 10, 1969 and search the assigned sector for enemy troops and... middle of paper... and effects of American technology while maximizing the remarkable light infantry capabilities of his own soldiers. Only Honeycutt's drive and fortitude kept his battalion fighting despite heavy casualties, flagging morale, bad press, and deafening pressure from his chain of command. His willpower (with the support of Conmy and Zais) overcame every adversity that terrain, time, enemy and fate could heap on him and helped him bring the battle to a successful conclusion (E -History, 2012).Works CitedHistory Net (2009, May 8). Retrieved March 23, 2012, from http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-hamburger-hill-timeline.htmTime (1969, May 30). Retrieved March 24, 2012, from http ://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,840113,00.htmlE-History (2012, Nd). Retrieved March 25, 2012, from http://ehistory.osu.edu/vietnam /essays/battlecommand/index.cfm