Platoon

Chris Taylor, a young and idealistic American, enlists in the United States Army in 1967, during the height of the Vietnam War. Fresh from a middle-class upbringing in Toledo, Ohio, Chris joins the army in search of a sense of purpose and belonging. He is sent to Vietnam, where he is assigned to the 25th Infantry Division's 3rd squad in Alpha Company. Upon arrival, Chris is introduced to the harsh realities of combat. His drill instructor, Sergeant Elias Kopeck, is the first to teach Chris the ways of the military. Elias, a seasoned combat veteran, emphasizes discipline, obedience, and survival strategies. As Chris begins his training, he meet other recruits, including Rupert, a simple-minded but endearing friend, and Bunny, a slightly overweight, wise-cracking soldier. However, their instructors ultimately decide that the real learning will come through their training under, Sergeant Barnes. Sergeant Barnes is a cold, cynical, and battle-hardened soldier, whose brutal tactics and merciless attitude earn him great respect among his peers. He sees the war as a means to eliminate the enemy and protect his fellow soldiers, regardless of the cost. Barnes soon becomes Chris's commanding officer in Alpha Company, where he begins to test the limits of his morality and sanity. Upon arrival at the fire base, Arclight, the harsh realities of war set in. Chris experiences intense combat for the first time, where he witnesses the brutal and disturbing behaviors of his fellow soldiers. Barnes takes great pleasure in the unit's successes and relentlessly exhorts them to maintain their momentum. He is completely willing to put pressure his soldiers to achieve violent objectives and to be less human-friendly while carrying out those objectives. The soldiers soon find themselves engaged in daily patrols, routine sweeps of the surrounding jungle, where they repeatedly encounter hostile forces. During these patrols, terror is an ingrained element, as random gunfire fills the air, and, it's only a matter of time before death occurs. Chris faces an inexpressible moral dilemma: can the system of discipline instilled by superior power justify the calculated cost of moral sacrifice? Conversely, if morality also factors into war can this justify discipline too, and if so at what level is justified over morality? Barnes's hard stance conflicts with Elias, another platoon leader, who emphasizes mercy, compassion, and understanding among his soldiers. Elias encourages men to remain connected with their emotions and their sense of humanity. Elias provides lessons for the young soldiers on how to become decent human beings, despite the chaos that battle brings. As the days turn into weeks, Chris struggles to reconcile his idealism with the brutal realities of war. He comes to realize that the lessons he learned in boot camp, particularly those taught by Sergeant Barnes, prepare soldiers to conquer and, yet, they are at least vulnerable to mental complications that can weaken even the bravest of the individual, thus requiring difficult reassessment of purpose. In between battles, Chris finds himself arguing between himself and his men, driven mad by the conflict brewing inside of him. One night, tensions in the platoon escalate, and Elias is visibly shaken when he witnesses a fellow platoon member brutally gun down and Barnes attempts to keep that secrecy confined. Desperately confused and exhausted, Elias chooses the only dignified way left to him, shooting himself dead after facing life again with little dignity left, and more horrors that are to unfold. It becomes increasingly clear that the days of innocence have come and gone for Chris, and that the 'harsh realities of war' hold more terrifying occurrences, many so vicious, that some veterans may yet find impossible to recover and return back to their innocent, original selves. With a blend of dread and recognition about his change, and an undeniable understanding of his fellow soldiers he fights alongside. "Today's" humanity and purpose now define his existence, the duality of man defines what is already observed within his own person: a confrontation that is about more than about an existence in struggle of human principle, about human and inhuman potential altogether - a change that he hadn't seen coming; and so the way the cycle of desperation in battle reveals itself is all the reality that every platoon here today will likely end up either in life or in death. At the conclusion of this extremely detailed, eventful, and insightful story of the unconditioned and naively hopeful 19-year-old soldier named Chris Taylor.