The powerful story of an unlikely friendship and a doctor's re-education
on the battlefields of the Vietnam War.
Fresh out of medical school and planning to enter academia, David
pragmatically applies to serve in the US Army, thinking he would rather
work in a stateside military hospital than get drafted. But when he gets
reassigned to Southeast Asia, he suddenly finds himself on a base in
Vietnam. He joins a civilian aid mission on a supposedly secure plateau,
and spends his days dispensing pills to villagers. As David comes to
terms with the unexpected factors that brought him to Vietnam, he must
adjust to many more twists and turns - among them his relationship with
his driver, Tom, a young, rough-hewn Southerner whose reticence feels
unnervingly like indifference.
Gradually, however, David sees that there's far more to Tom than he
initially thought. As their friendship grows, David also realizes that
his fellow doctors and the troops on base hold widely diverging opinions
about the war and its objectives. As it becomes clear that their base is
located on a key strategic route - the notorious Ho Chi Minh Trail - and
thus a vulnerable target, it's only a matter of time before battles
break out . . .
