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 battles of the Vietnam War. This battle took place May 10-20, 1969 in the A Shau Valley of Vietnam. This battle took place during "Operation Apache Snow", which was the second part of a three-phase campaign intended to destroy North Vietnamese Army (NVA) base areas in the remote A Shau Valley. This was not the battle that produced the most casualties, but because it took place towards the end of the Vietnam War, when it had become very unpopular with the American public, it received an excessive amount of political coverage and negative press. It became the focal point of the media and started a debate about our military strategy that led to a major turning point in the war. The debate simply put was whether or not it was worth the cost of American lives to capture a hill that had no strategic value as the hill was abandoned shortly after it was taken. 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 against a Communist takeover and enable the United States to leave the conflict with their honor intact.3 after the Battle of Hamburger Hill came President Nixon's announcement to withdraw 25,000 troops by July 1969 followed by another 35,000 by December 1969. HistoryAfter the bloody final assault on May 20 one soldier wrote "Hamburger Hill" on a piece of ration box and nailed it to a tree at the base of Hill 937 and under that another Soldier wrote "was it worth it?" As previously stated, the battle on "Hamburger Hill" was part of Operation Apach... half of the document... 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” (Army Command and General Staff of the United States College) 35-42 Samuel 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