Operation Rolling Thunder roars across the skies over North Vietnam; American soldiers are outnumbered in the Ia Drang Valley.
American troops launch widespread search and destroy operations; body count becomes the measure of success in Vietnam; Charles Brown fights for survival on the bloody slopes of Hill 875 and at home; the American public begins to question strategy.
The turmoil of 1968 helps Nixon win the presidency; the draft accelerates; Karl Marlantes endures bitter jungle fighting on Hill 484; Arthur Wiknik gets a grim introduction to combat.
Troop withdrawals begin; Gery Benedetti patrols the Mekong Delta; James Anderson leads a battalion into Cambodia; Don DeVore struggles to survive a fierce night attack; Anne Purcell gets promising news about her husband.
Bob Clewell's helicopter crew comes under intense fire; Joe Galloway returns to Vietnam; Barry Romo throws down his medals in protest; Anne Purcell awaits word of her husband's fate; the unification of Vietnam.