The story follows a young man from civilian life to Vietnam. The young man is an average person, full of self importance with no life experiences to support that importance. His focus is his buddies, girl, and car. He believes he has everything he needs. The only thing he lacks is his father's approval. The story shows the importance of his world to him, and the humor that is part it. The story moves to his new life in the military. His old life will continues to play a part in his military life, and affect him. His arrival in Vietnam will start the slow and painful end of his old life, but he will not see it coming. He will meets new people that l help his transition into a person of worth. He experience events he could have only imaged. While in Vietnam you continue to see the humor that surrounds him. A since of humor that protects him from the things he sees. Then upon his return home, something he has dreamed for his last two years, he comes face to face with the old saying, "you better be careful of what you wish for." He returns to a place he once felt was safe. But finds a new reality; a reality that could be scarier then the place he is returning from. This story is not a war story. It is the story about the people that make up a time of conflict in our history.