Young Marine Company C arrive for their induction into the Vietnam War, including: Tyrone Washington, an African American drug dealer from Chicago, Illinois; Billy Ray Pike, a volunteer from Galveston, Texas; Alvin Foster, an aspiring writer from Emporia, Kansas; Vinnie Fazio from Brooklyn, New York; and Dave “Jesus” Bisbee, a hippie war protester from Seattle, Washington. Alvin keeps a journal of his experience with the hope of being published some day and befriends Vinnie on the bus to training camp. As the men are processed, all of their personal possessions are confiscated, but Vinnie smuggles out Alvin’s notebook and returns it to him. Alvin hopes to see combat so he can write about it. Once in the barracks, Tyrone warns the others to leave him alone. The next morning, training begins. Drill Sergeant Aquilla informs the recruits that if they do not ignore their racial prejudices and learn to rely on each other, they will not survive long in Vietnam. During training, Aquilla chastises Tyrone for not being a team player. Later, Vinnie notices some pretty girls and sneaks away. Billy also slips away to meet his girl friend who tells him she is pregnant. Billy encourages her to get an abortion because they are not ready to become parents. Back at training camp, Dave is shot in the arm as he attempts to desert and Alvin is accused of writing anti-American propaganda; Vinnie, Billy, Dave and Alvin are sent to the brig for punishment. Their four replacements are racists and harass Tyrone, but when he complains to Sergeant Loyce, he is ordered to be cooperative because Loyce believes the young man’s “street smarts” make him a natural leader. Loyce promises to bring Vinnie, Alvin, Dave and Billy back and transfer the racists out of the unit if Tyrone agrees to lead the company. By the time training ends, Marine Company C has become a strong team and is assigned to Vietnam. Before they depart, Tyrone calls a drug dealer friend with a plan to smuggle back heroin. On their way to Vietnam, the soldiers meet their new commander, Captain Collins, who uses soccer to convey how the Viet Cong think. The company is under attack as soon as their ship lands and Collins volunteers the soldiers for a convoy to transport urgent materials to a field general. During the convoy, the company falls under attack and two men are killed. When Dave is outraged to discover the “urgent” materials are cigarettes, liquor, food and other luxury goods, Collins insists he was not aware of their transport. The company makes it to the general’s base and is rewarded with twenty-four hours leave. As Vinnie and Alvin seek prostitutes, Billy is offered heroin by fellow soldiers and Tyrone talks to locals, hoping to find a drug dealing connection, but he is caught by the local police and brought to Vietnamese Colonel Dong, who accuses him of trafficking heroin. Dong is a drug trafficker himself and when he suggests that he and Tyrone become partners, Tyrone reveals his idea to smuggle the drugs in the body bags of dead soldiers. Later, Tyrone finds Billy overdosing on heroin and nurses him back to health, but he later berates his friend and fears he will put the company in danger. Meanwhile, Dave blows up the general’s trailer of luxury goods as revenge. Vinnie discovers he has contracted a venereal disease from the local prostitutes and wonders why Alvin did not. When Company C is sent to replace another battalion, Captain Collins announces that the military’s priority is obtaining a high body count of Viet Cong. In his effort to achieve the highest body count, Collins puts his troops in unnecessary danger, but is easy on Billy, because he is a great soccer player. Resentful, Tyrone disobeys Collins’s orders during a Viet Cong attack but still manages to save the day. However, Collins punishes Tyrone by forcing him to lead his men into a dangerous rice paddy. There, Tyrone steps on a pressure release landmine and freezes in fear. Billy helps extricate Tyrone by replacing his weight with ammunition boxes. They both escape uninjured, but Tyrone is furious. One day, Collins orders an artillery attack on a village but Dave refuses to follow his order and Collins’s second in command, Lieutenant Archer, thinks it is unnecessary. Eager to increase his body count, Collin leads the attack himself; however, they discover only women and children. Finding a young boy with a baseball, Billy starts an impromptu game. Later, Colonel Trang and Major Royal interrogate the boy and promise Billy that they will not harm him, but after the company leaves the village, the men hear the boy screaming as he is shot to death. Furious, Billy announces he will never play soccer for Collins, provoking the Captain to punish Billy and Dave by reassigning them to the mine-filled paddies. Later, Vinnie realizes Alvin never had sex with the prostitutes, and accuses his friend of being homosexual. Fed up with Collins, Tyrone reports a fake Viet Cong sighting and lures Collins out of his tent so he can kill the Captain under the pretense of “friendly fire,” but Archer stops Tyrone from shooting Collins. Later, Colonel Trang finds Tyrone to discuss his drug smuggling proposition; however Tyrone is no longer interested and pretends Trang found the wrong man. Company C is sent to destroy an alleged Viet Cong technical operation center and Collins stays behind. During the attack, Alvin is injured and taken away by a medical helicopter, leaving Vinnie shaken. Archer soon realizes that Company C is being used as bait to draw out enemy fire, giving the artillery an excuse to counter attack and obtain a higher body count; he reports a false Viet Cong attack and the troop relaxes on the beach as they watch the bombing of an empty hill for several hours. When Tyrone complains about Collin’s obsession with forming a soccer team, Archer explains that Collin’s plan is to create a military team that will boost morale. If they can put together a winning team, they can leave combat. Tyrone tells Archer they need to get Billy back because he is their best player. Meanwhile, Billy and Dave have befriended local villagers. Billy agrees to play when he gets a letter from his girl friend, who informs him she kept their baby, because now he has something to live for. Collins organizes a soccer tournament with a local Vietnamese team. Dave brings some of the village children to watch. Company C names their team the “Muthus.” Alvin, recovering from his injury, shows up to watch. When the Muthus gain the lead, Colonel Trang complains to General Sloan, claiming that it will hurt the country’s morale if the Vietnamese lose. Sloan decides that it will be more politically advantageous to let the Vietnamese team win and orders the Muthus to throw the game. They follow orders at first, but Billy can’t bear to lose. The Muthus win the game just as the Viet Cong attack. Collins is killed, Dave dies avenging the death of the children he brought to the game, and Alvin throws himself on a grenade to protect other children. Vinnie and the others are shell-shocked but do not have time to mourn. Archer orders them to rally because they are being sent back to combat for disobeying orders. Before they leave, Tyrone arranges for Billy to be sent home, claiming Billy has a head injury. Tyrone rounds up what is left of the company and they march off the soccer field and into battle.