Talk:Hamburger Hill

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If you want to know the true story of Hamburger Hill then you need to read my book Hamburger Hill. The film of the same name, while realistic, is not based on any real research. My book was based on exhaustive interviews with 48 veterans of the battle. A number of veterans of the battle, including Frank Boccia, who led the first attack on the hill, think the film is a joke. Boocia even told the producer of the film that he should have taken the time to interview some veterans of the battle before spending millions of dollars to make the film. The film, even though it's is supposed to be reproducing an historical event, doesn't provide us with the names of the battalion, division, brigade, and corp commanders involved in the battle. There are key events such as the destruction and rescue of Charlie Company which are not portrayed in the movie. And the central figure in the true story of Hamburger Hill, Lt.Col. Weldon Honeycutt, is not portrayed at all. I could go on for pages listing the film's faults and inaccuracies.

I first got the idea for a book about Hamburger Hill while recuperating in an Army hospital in Japan. There I met about ten wounded men who had been on the hill. In 1986 I first began doing serious research on the battle, research that lasted two years. My book was published by Presidio Press in 1988, and came out in paperback a short time later. Since then the book has been the featured selection of the Military Book Club twice and has appeared in 6 more editions. It is presently out in a Ballantine trade paperback and an iBook mass-market paperback.

Samuel Zaffiri email: dongapbia@msn.com