The 1960's were a time of racial conflict and military confrontation in Asia. After living in New York all his life, the Army transferred Jim Sheridan to a post in the Deep South. At this time the defenders of segregation were making their last stand in a vain attempt to bolster the status quo. His country was being ripped apart along racial lines by these acts. At the same time the war in Vietnam was escalating and opening another deep wound in the soul of his country. He didn't understand the rationality for either of these conflicts, but found himself in the middle of both. The emotional forces of love and hate generated by these conflicts shaped Sheridan from what he was into what he became.