Young marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company have been dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam, combatants in an increasingly desperate war Standing in their way are the North Vietnamese, the monsoon rain and mud, leeches and tigers, and disease and malnutrition As racial tension and competing ambition build, the group threatens to crack at any moment When the company is surrounded and outnumbered by a massive enemy regiment, the Marines are thrust into the raw and all-consuming terror of combat The experience will change them forever