A second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps, Philip Caputo entered the war with inflated and idealistic views of his own role in the war. Hoping to become a decorated hero, much like the hero in a WWII movie, Caputo was not prepared for the reality of war he found in Vietnam. Assigned to lead an infantry platoon, Caputo soon discovered that he had much to learn about effective leadership and survival.

After a few months on the front lines, Caputo is reassigned to regimental HQ to perform desk duties. His primary duty, which traumatizes him, is to maintain the detailed records required by the Marines of the dead and the specific injuries suffered by the wounded. Caputo sees so many mutilated corpses of fellow marines that he begins to suffer from hallucinations during the day—seeing living men as dead—and dreaming of platoons of the dead at night.

Desperate to get back to the fighting on the front lines, Caputo volunteers for line duty. He is reassigned to Charlie Company under Captain Neal, who is widely hated. As his grip on reality becomes more tenuous under the strain of continued fighting, Caputo finally snaps.

Though he is charged with the murder of two civilians, Caputo realizes that the unspoken but severe pressures that he was under—that all the soldiers were under—to add to the VC body count were to blame.