The Walking Dead

In 1972, a Marine unit is airlifted into North Vietnam to evacuate survivors from a POW camp abandoned by the Viet Cong. The mission is presented as their last assignment before rotations end. They expect a cold landing zone but quickly face enemy fire.

The helicopter lands under heavy fire and a brief firefight erupts as the team disembarks. Despite the chaos, four members survive the opening contact and the mission continues. The sense of urgency sets the tone for the perilous operation.

Sgt. Barkley and Hoover clash over whether to radio for evac or push on with the mission. A mortar lands nearby, tossing them into a swamp where Barkley drags a fellow Marine, Branche, from danger.

Brooks and Evans join the survivors, and Barkley leads them toward a nearby cathedral as their objective. They press on through the jungle, trusting Barkley's leadership. The decision reflects the unit's determination to complete the mission.

The group reaches the cathedral and engages NVA forces, killing several soldiers as they secure the building. The fight yields a brief tactical advantage, but danger remains as daylight progresses.

At dawn, they are ambushed by additional NVA troops, including tree snipers. Corporal Pippins emerges from the brush and joins the attack, then is subdued when his loyalties become unclear.

The men reminisce about why they joined the Marines, revealing Barkley’s past as a preacher who killed a man after finding his wife with another, Hoover’s firing from a meat-packing job, Cole’s race-based housing denial, Brooks’s motive to honor his grandfather, and Pippins’s brutal past with gangsters.

During a break, Pippins escapes again and grabs Brooks's pistol. The quartet regroups and proceeds without him, altering the group’s dynamic and trust levels.

When they reach the camp, a deranged Pippins holds a Vietnamese woman hostage and murders her in front of the group. Barkley shoots Pippins dead, and they discover the camp is empty with the radio missing.

A radio contact reveals the Marines cleared the POW camp four hours earlier and they have 20 minutes to reach the pickup point before the area is bombed. Bombs begin to fall as they push toward the landing zone, and the group is forced to move through a dangerous jungle while under fire.

The group is split by fate as Brooks is killed and Cole and Barkley are wounded during a renewed ambush. Hoover returns to rescue Barkley, and the three wounded Marines are evacuated by helicopter.

In the epilogue, Cole becomes a career Marine who retires after 20 years; Barkley becomes a counselor for troubled teens in Georgia; Hoover returns home, marries his girlfriend, and starts his own business.