Set in 1967, five young Marine inductees including Dave Brisbee, Tyrone Washington, Billy Ray Pike, Vinnie Fazio, and Alvin Foster take part in dehumanizing and brutal training and then are sent to serve in the Vietnam war. Disheartened by futile combat, appalled by the corruption of their South Vietnamese ally, and constantly endangered by the incompetence of their own company commander, the men find a way to escape from the war by winning a football game against South Vietnamese team.