From ordinary soldiers to commanding officers, thirty-three tours of duty are presented in rough chronological order, from December 1962, when John F. Kennedy was still alive, to April 1975, when Saigon fell. Robert Santos was officially regarded as a hero by the Army, but as a platoon leader he taught his men to do nothing by the book, and that if they did nothing stupid, they would all get home. Jonathan Polansky fell deeply in love with a Vietnamese woman, whom the VC then murdered for being an American sympathizer. Lynda Van Devanter found life in the midst of death when she delivered a baby in a battlefield hospital. Herb Mock had a knack for dodging bullets and hated the media and the top brass.