FAQ

The hill had no value in itself, the allied forces only attacked it because the North Vietnamese Army forces were there. Once they withdrew to their safe havens in Laos and Cambodia where allied forces were forbidden to go there was no reason to keep troops on it. One of the criticisms of the allied high command is that their strategy was more akin to World War 2 and Korea where every piece of territory seized was a step closer to victory. In Vietnam merely occupying territory was meaningless as there were never enough forces to effectively seal the Laos/Cambodia border.

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go. Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own. And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.

Written by Major Michael O'Donnell, a helicopter pilot serving in the Vietnam War. He was later posted as Missing In Action during a rescue mission and in 1978 was declared legally dead.