1969 in the Vietnam War and over 30,000 Americans are wounded or killed by North Vietnamese troops. The Battle of Hamburger Hill was a battle of the Vietnam War which was fought between the United States and South Vietnam against North Vietnamese forces from May 10–20, 1969. Although the heavily fortified Hill 937 was of little strategic value, U.S. command ordered its capture by direct assault. In the aftermath of the battle there were close to 600 recorded North Vietnamese deaths and over 70 American deaths as well as over 400 Americans being wounded. Operation Apache Snow was a military operation in the A Shau
Hamburger Hill during the Battle of la Drang in 1965, had been driven to an emotional breakdown by cruel phone calls from anti-war college students gloating over his son's death. Frantz relates a story on how he volunteered for the airborne. "The only reason I went airborne was Collins," he said. However, when orders came down for a dangerous operation, "Collins" refused to participate. Later, Frantz also has a confrontation with a TV reporter, telling him that he has more respect for the NVA on the hill than for the reporter. The increasingly exhausted platoon continues their attempt to capture Hill 937,