Vietnam had been Lyndon Johnson’s war, and it destroyed his presidency. Richard Nixon entered the White House on Jan. 20, 1969, anxious to avoid Johnson’s fate.
Vietnam had been Lyndon Johnson’s war, and it destroyed his presidency. Richard Nixon entered the White House on Jan. 20, 1969, anxious to avoid Johnson’s fate.
American prisoners of war locked up for years in North Vietnam knew the drill. Bow to their captors or take a beating. But in October 1969, the rules changed.
![142p av The 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division on the day they took the mountain, west of A Shau Valley, called Dong Ap Bia, or Hamburger Hill. [jc]; One soldier holds an IV bottle high up in the air as a medic puts bandages around a chest wound of an unidentified African-American soldier. Men of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division have been trying to take the bomb-scarred, blood-soaked mountaintop - called Hamburger Hill - from North Vietnamese forces. [cg]](https://www.stripes.com/special-reports/vietnam-stories/1969/migrated.image.Image_75674719.jpg/alternates/LANDSCAPE_300/One%20soldier%20holds%20an%20IV%20bottle%20high%20up%20in%20the%20air%20)
Fifty years after leading a company of soldiers up Hamburger Hill, Gerald “Bob” Harkins sees the assault against burrowed-in North Vietnamese army forces no differently than he did then.
