[1] At the start of the Tet Offensive, a Marine Long Range Reconnaissance unit led by Sergeant Major Bill Hafner (R. Lee Ermey) and Corporal Joseph L. Di Nardo (Wings Hauser) come upon a village where the locals have been executed gruesomely for fraternising with the US troops.

Hafner's recon unit, which also consists of college kid Murphy and radioman Shortwave who has only 17 days left on his enlistment, exits the village and, while on patrol, come upon a Viet Cong (VC) tunnel complex where they find an American POW.

Hafner immediately takes control of the base when he discovers the commanding officer Captain Williams is a burned out drug addict and is not fit for duty.

Hafner encounters a photographer (Nick Nicholson) offering the men weed and immediately recruits him knowing that every man is vital to the upcoming offensive.

Their commanding officer Captain Flanagan (Margaret Trenchard-Smith) proves more competent than the drug addled Williams and she remains dedicated to her patients and her role on the base.

At the conclusion of the battle, the Viet Cong commander discovers that it was never his mission gain a victory over the Americans, but to lead his men to their deaths in order to allow the North Vietnamese Army to take a more substantial role in the war.

As a compromise, when recording Ermey's in-character narrations, Trenchard-Smith and the actor made additions to what was scripted that emphasised the intended thematic focus.