In 1945 seventeen-year-old Sal Hecht feels like a prisoner in New York City. For four years, he dreamt of fighting in the Second World War and being a hero. Now that the war has ended, it seems, at least to Sal, that his life is over as well. When his repeated efforts to enlist are thwarted, Sal joins the Merchant Marine and opens what he hopes is his gateway to a brighter future. As he begins a new chapter as an apprentice seaman, Sal has no idea of what lies ahead.
Two years later as the French battle what appears to be a futile war in Indochina, Sal's destiny intertwines with two others as he enlists in the French Foreign Legion. Avram is an Auschwitz survivor who welcomes the opportunity to situate himself among a company of Legionnaires. Jaehne is a corporal who deserted the German Army shortly before the end of the war to join the Legion. Now brought together by fate to fight a colonial war as Legionnaires during the nine years of conflict in French Indochina, the three men each face challenges as they all become comrades and heroes in their own way.
Three into Nine is the story of three men from different backgrounds who find themselves in the French Foreign Legion amid the struggle to maintain a French Colonial Empire.