Dong Ap Bia | |
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Đồi A Bia | |
Dong Ap BiaLaos – Vietnam border | |
Highest point | |
Elevation | 937 m (3,074 ft) |
Listing | List of mountains in Laos List of mountains in Vietnam |
Coordinates | 16°15′N 107°11′E / 16.250°N 107.183°E / 16.250; 107.183 |
Geography | |
Location | Laos – Vietnam border |
Parent range | Annamite Range |
Dong Ap Bia (Vietnamese: Đồi A Bia, Ap Bia Mountain) is a mountain on the Laotian border of South Vietnam in Thừa Thiên–Huế Province. Rising from the floor of the western A Shau Valley, it is a looming, solitary massif, unconnected to the ridges of the surrounding Annamite range. It dominates the northern valley, towering some 937 metres above sea level. Snaking down from its highest peak are a series of ridges and fingers, one of the largest extending southeast to a height of 900 metres, another reaching south to a 916-metre peak. The entire mountain is a rugged, uninviting wilderness blanketed in double- and triple-canopy jungle, dense thickets of bamboo, and waist-high elephant grass. Local Montagnard tribesmen call Ap Bia "the mountain of the crouching beast."
History
In May 1969, a ridge of Dong Ap Bia, "Hill 937" in contemporary US military terminology, was the site of the Battle of Hamburger Hill, a controversial battle of the Vietnam War fought by the United States and South Vietnam against North Vietnamese forces.
References
- Studies in Battle Command - XXIV. The Battle of Hamburger Hill: Battle Command in Difficult Terrain Against a Determined Enemy
- "Hamburger Hill- The Battle of Dong Ap Bia" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-11. Retrieved 2012-01-12.