In 1964 Vietnam, US Navy Major Asa Barker (Burt Lancaster) reluctantly sends a group of South Vietnamese troops and American advisors to a former French outpost. He fears that it will draw the Viet Cong into the area, and he is proved right. His unit of battle ravaged men is a microcosm of the whole American experience in the Vietnam War, as their morale dwindles in the face of insurmountable odds.