December 1968. Specialist E4 Nathan Cobb, a Southern bread baker, arrives in Vietnam and is assigned to a company near Nha Trang, a safer base than most in Vietnam. But nowhere in Vietnam is safe. Nathan suffers from the relentless pressure of military rule and soon experiences the traumatic Tet offensive. To escape his excruciating daily existence, he constantly smokes pot with fellow soldiers and spends as much time as possible savoring the exotic lure of the Vietnamese landscape and culture. He makes friends with his Vietnamese co-workers. And Nathan falls in love with a highborn Vietnamese woman. As his friends are killed or driven mad by their inescapably surreal situation, Nathan's company is ordered to Phu Bai, the "Home of the Dead." His fanatic commander assigns Nathan brutal, mindless chores, tasks designed to eliminate the pot-heads in the camp. Nathan's relationship with his Vietnamese lover collapses. As his year "in Country" draws to an end, Nathan goes AWOL to visit his old base, Nha Trang. He finds it changed beyond recognition. Disturbing visions drive Nathan into the solace of opium dens. When he finally extricates himself and returns to Phu Bai, Nathan learns that his one remaining friend had been killed. Along with other misfits, Nathan is demoted and assigned to demeaning guard duty. Bereft, emotionally exhausted, Nathan struggles to survive till the day a lucky plane will take him back to "the World," to the North Carolina he loves, the place where he was born and raised.