He admits he tracked down Sal and Mueller in the hope that they would accompany him to collect the body of his son Larry Jr. and take him to his scheduled burial.

Along the way, Sal and Mueller clash over their differing philosophies and their mutual guilt over their past; both Sal and Mueller (nicknamed the Mauler) indulged in alcohol, drugs and prostitutes while on deployment, and on one occasion used up the entire supply of then-19-year-old Doc's painkillers, which led to a needlessly painful death for one of their fellow Marines and a bad conduct discharge for Doc.

At Dover Air Force Base, Doc requests to view the maimed body of his son, against the advice of Mueller and LtCol Willits.

Willits orders Washington to accompany the body and coerce Doc into changing his mind about having his son buried in civilian clothing.

Sal asks Doc to move to his town to run the bar with him, and the three purchase their first cell phones to stay in contact.

Their trip takes them to Boston where Sal insists that they meet the mother of Jimmy Hightower, the fellow Marine who died painfully without morphine.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Last Flag Flying balances raw drama against refreshing moments of humor in an impeccably cast film that wrestles with questions of patriotism, family, and grief.

"[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".