the film kicks off in 1967 in Inwood New York City at a classic old school bar nestled in a Northern Manhattan neighborhood chicky a merchant Mariner sporting a magnificent mustache walks in to join his Pals carrying two brimming jugs of beer after buying the next round for the group with his friends money upon his return chicki is taken AB when one of the men teasingly labels him a freeloader undeterred chicki with a twinkle in his eye smoothly leverages his friend's name to keep the beers flowing instructing the bartender to chalk it up to Brandon's tab
the next morning chicki is found passed out in his room where he lives with his family he's rudely awakened by his father who scolds him for being a lazy drunkard in a sarcastic reply chicky jokes stay awake when I'm dead but his father undeterred persists in waking him up insisting that it's time for church after enduring a series of newspaper slaps chicky begrudgingly gets himself up from his cozy bed and joins his parents for Sunday mass with all the enthusiasm of a sloth on a Monday chicky plops himself outside the the church and reads the
news just as the final hymn plays out of the church chicky quickly hurries in attempting to blend in as if he'd been a model attendee the whole time after enduring Church the family returns home for lunch and chicki is greeted with yet another round of scolding from his father in a hopeless attempt to defend himself chicki explains to his father that being a merchant Mariner is no Cakewalk stating that family time is his only chance to unwind when chick's mother attempts to stop the infighting his angry father declares that Chi is living under his roof
and that if he wants to act like a drunk he should find a new place to do it while chicki entertains the idea his mother reminds him that it would just be a waste of money feeling like his mother is coddling him chick's father expresses his concern recounting how he had a job a wife and three kids at chick's age with a touch of sarcasm chicky fires back so it's my fault you knocked up M high school chiy we got pregnant after we were married oh come on Ma you got married in January Gerard was
born in sure it don't add up it was a leapia amidst the heated argument chick's Sister Christine bursts in and announces that a friend of theirs has passed away after being deployed to war despite the family's attempts to console her by emphasizing that the young man died in service to his country Christine appears to be inconsolable exclaiming that we don't even know why we're fighting over there in the town the bartender Colonel lowers the flag after the community receives the heartbreaking news of the loss of eight of their children inside his bar chicky and his
friends have gathered to mourn the tragedy as they watch the Grim scene unfold on TV Colonel remarks to the boys that the government shouldn't be airing this reflecting on his own time in the service war is not a TV show it's to real life and the American people can't handle real life no they can't and they shouldn't have to Bringing dead soldiers guys with no arms and legs into our living rooms is not helping no one if they had showed the Battle of the Bulge on TV we to quit after 3 Days Later chicky and
his friends attend the awake during their conversation chicki and the Gang received the news that Tom manogue a close friend of chickies is missing in action shocked by the news chicky leaves and recalls how he helped Tom to see the ball drop on New Year's Eve 10 minutes we're going to miss it chick don't worry about it Tommy it'll drop again next year yeah but I never seen it only on TV all right come on let's go the next morning chicky and red are strolling through the park when they spot Christine in an anti-war protest
chanting their Mantra at the top of her lungs embarrassed by his sister's fervor he attempts to pull her away but she refuses to budge angry over what he perceived as thoughtless remarks chicky insists to Christine that their buddies were out there fighting for their country even bringing up his own time in uniform everyone's doing something and you're doing nothing I served four years in uniform starting when I was 18 years old you were playing poker at a military base in Massachusetts eager to dodge the confrontation he makes another attempt to remove her only to be
intercepted by another protest T you and me let's go I don't want to fight man this March is about peace oh the hell with your piece come on leading to a scuffle and giving Christine the chance to disappear later chicky and his crew gather at the bar for a few drinks as they chat Colonel mentions his desire to send some drinks to the boys overseas sparking an idea in chick's mind I could do that do what bringing beer are you serious of course he's not serious he's hammered look at him when he notices his friend
skepticism he reassures them that he's up to the task vowing to deliver those beers so the soldiers know their neighborhood and country have their backs the next day chicki's grandiose decision starts to sink in and he begins to doubt himself especially as the town's people start pressuring him after hearing about his plan Dicky when you're in Vietnam you're going to visit my son right 127th MP Company see it's right there on the patch on his shoulder he'll be so excited to see a friendly face yeah there's still a few Kinks dying out Mrs Collins got
don't even know if it's possible for me to get over there and when you see him please give him a hug for me while hashing it out with his buddies red and noodles he has a sudden realization that his friends never really had faith in him assuming that his promise to deliver was just another one of his empty promises why do they think I'm not going what no offense but come on chick there's a lot of things you say you're going to do that you don't get around the doing cuz you know you get busy
feeling annoyed chicky heads home only to be taken aback by the fact that his family has also caught wind of his tall tale about going to Vietnam his father and sister not taking him seriously in the slightest poke fun at the idea assuming he must have been drunk when he came up with it irritated by their sarcastic jokes chicki gets up to answer the door only to be stunned when he finds man's mother standing outside her son went missing handing him a cross she tells him to give it to her son when they find him
no please M you you hold on of those if I end up going then I'll come and pick him up from you okay I promise you see Tommy said that he brought some that I bet he didn't the next day chicky marches over to the Chief and inquires about any boats Bound for Vietnam hoping that there are no boats and he will finally have a credible reason not to go to Vietnam to his amazement the chief informs him that the cargo ship Drake is set to sail in a few hours struck by The Coincidence chicky
boldly asks if they need an Oiler and is taken a back when he's told they're short staffed but I doubt they need an Oiler this late G Oiler hey you're in luck there's still one short signing up for Duty on the merchant ship chicky then proceeds to stash dozens of beers in the bag Colonel had given him as chicky makes his way out Christine stops him and insists that this is a terrible idea undeterred I leaves his sister in tears and hops into the cab showing his unwavering determination upon reaching the boat chicky pulls double
shifts to Vietnam and then manages to persuade his commanding officer to Grant him three days off the ship by spinning a sob story about finding his half brother and telling him the news of his father's passing upon inquiring about his half brother's whereabouts the officer grimly informs chicki that the area he's headed to is a total bloodbath and that he's risking his life but chicky is unfazed by the warning chick's Commander reluctantly grants him 3 days off cautioning him to return promptly as chicky leaves the ship with his bag brimming with beer he runs into
some soldiers from Collins's regiment and eagerly shows them a picture of his friend while offering them some bruise no I'm being serious this whole thing's full of beer from back home he this is small mouth you looking to take a swim no no no look I ain't messing with you I'm serious here in fact you know what I got a couple for you too tickled by chick's Gusto they escort him back to the base and vouch for him leading to a heartwarming reun with Collins after Collins introduces chicky to his buddies in his regiment the
group gathers around for a game of poker and some beer their fun is abruptly interrupted by the squad's commanding officer who fixes chicky with a Stern gaze and demands to know who he is I'm traveling around Viet in Vietnam and I'm bringing beers to as many of my friends from my neighborhood as I can hearing his answer the officer sternly nods and walks out assuming that chicky is a CIA agent he seems like an okay guy he's not don't you get it he thinks the man Don Ho here is a tool tourist what do you
mean I am a tourist tourist is what we call CIA CIA get the hell out of who else was CIA will be headed up country dressed like they're going on a golf trip no Eric's right taking advantage of his new status chicky turns Up the Music allowing the boys to have some fun at the crack of dawn chicki starts brainstorming his next move to locate the rest of his friends suddenly Collins snatches away his map and warns the others not to assist chicky less they end up getting him killed chicky even if you wanted to
do this there's no way for you to get around the only non-military people who can travel the country the Press later over a beer chicki persuades Collins to spill the beans on where to find the Press so he can navigate his way around on the way to the hotel he's nearly hit by a car but a traffic police officer helps him out he can speak a little English so he points chicky in the direction of the hotel and they make small talk as chicki arrives at the hotel where the Press is staying he stumbles upon
a group at the bar critiquing the American president's speech claiming they were winning the war whoa hey I don't appreciate that that's the president of the United States you talking about he deserves some respect you expect us to respect the man who's telling the American people we're actually winning the war and that we the media are keeping it a secret if the shoe fits and the journalists view chicky as a bit of an idiot for running his mouth off about things he clearly doesn't understand and subtly make fun of him I need to hop a
plane to LZ Jane you know what I think I can swing it I could maybe uh book you a flight what's your preference you want like a window seat aisle oh I don't care hey you want to go first class meal service anything you want kid refusing to be discouraged by the journalist's mockery chicky hitches a ride to an air base and manages to Bluff his way into getting a lift by letting the captain assume he's with the CIA you the guy trying to get to LZ Jane yeah yeah that's right you're civilian yes as
far as you're concerned oh it's one of you guys why didn't you say so private put the gentleman's name in the Manifest immediately yes sir upon arriving at the second Air Base Lieutenant habershaw warmly greets him and informs him that he's been instructed to assist him in any way possible chicky wastes snow time and asks if he could snag a chopper to LZ Jane to which he's told it'll be ready in 60 minutes so while they're waiting for his ride habershaw decides to treat chicky to lunch at the officer's club and introduces him to his
buddy as they're chowing down habershaw can't contain his excitement and asks if he can Spill the Beans about what's going down at LZ Jane you can trust us come on habisha you could trust us he wouldn't be a very good CIA agent no woody that's true not that I am a CIA agent give us just a hint tell us without telling us trying to keep things under wraps chicki suddenly gets all serious and tells him he's just delivering some beer to a friend beer to who a friend in Bravo Company first day A C keg
KS wow it's going to be a [ __ ] show isn't it before cheeki leaves the lieutenant asks cheeki to put in a good word for him at the CIA so that they will consider his candidacy for joining the intelligence once the ride is ready chicky flies over a large expanse of Farmland along with other soldiers and head heads out to the war zone once he arrives at the base chicki uses the same CIA cover story to have the commanding officers recall his friend Rick from the Battle Zone Duan report to Toc ASAP over right
now that's 200 M and our Situation's hot over right now while Rick runs to the cabin under a barrage of bullets chicky asks to cover him with a tent as a surprise for his friend can you guys cover me with this no when Rick arrives at the cabin chicki jumps out of where he is hiding startling his friend when he realizes chicki is dragged him through gunfire for a silly cause Rick gets angry and begins to yell at his friend telling him that he was going to get himself killed Rick warns chicky to abandon his
Fool's errand you mean to tell me this a civilian yes sir is he nuts I don't know chicky are you nuts what no Rick's Sant drops the bombshell that chicky is now his responsibility and orders him to take the little guy along despite his protests Rick is bluntly informed that he has no say in the matter what's this for just shoot the bad guys daughter it looks like you're going to be taken for prisoner shoot yourself or they'll torture you for info for info hold on I don't have any info they don't know thatle no
no no bad idea s he's got a better chance of shooting one of us than one of them what would he talking about I know gun I was in the military where'd you serve Massachusetts yeah give me that Rick is left with no option but to dash across no man's land with chicky in toe who's whimpering like a little girl after dodging the flying bullets the two men finally make it to their post and rejoin the other soldiers who's this hand job it's my next door neighbor he brought me a beer what the hell does
that mean means he jumped on afraid New York came all the way out here bring me a beer wait a minute are you telling me you don't have to be here and you're here yeah while chicky hides in the barricades Rick and the other soldiers begin to fire at the enemy until they're all cleared out when the noise calms down and they finally take a break Rick asks for some beer and passes it along to his friends in a somber mood Rick informs chicki that their friend rolds was killed in action the next morning Rick
wakes chicki up and announces that they're heading out on patrol pleading with him to catch a ride home on on the incoming helicopter in a moment of camaraderie chicky offers the men one last round of beers as a Parting Gift one of the soldiers snaps a photo of the group and presents it to chicki after a few minutes of waiting chicki spots a chopper arriving and eagerly hops in only to be taken aback when two men bored to escort a prisoner as they soar to their next destination chicky watches in a mix of horror and
disbelief as a CIA agent interrogates The Prisoner resorting to the classic throwing out of the helicopter technique after a series of terrifi screams The Prisoner finally spills the beans but to chicki's astonishment the agent still gives him the boot and kicks him out of the helicopter when they finally arrive at the base chicky tries to get off the helicopter but is stopped by the agent who asks him who he is just a Taurus thank you who's your travel agent same as yours I'll tell the boss you say hi he heads into the office and begins
to ask the man at the front desk to get him a flight to Saigon telling him that there wouldn't be any flight until tomorrow afternoon the man informs chicky to go to the air base 16 m away after speaking to his Superior in the other room the man returns and offers to give him a ride himself finding the situation suspicious chicki goes to the bathroom and jumps out through the window to observe the man waiting by the car as he watches he spots the CIA agent hiding in the back of the car and takes off
running for the woods despite the agent giving Chase chicky manages to evade them by flattening himself on the ground trying his best not to let out a scream as a centipede decides to make him its playground once the coast is clear chicky heads for the hitchhiking route to get back to base while wandering Through the Jungle he finds Tom mano's capap on the ground he recalls his dialogue with Tom before the latter left for Vietnam Tom was afraid to go to the war and was not sure if it was the right decision but chicky cheered
him up stating that he would be doing the right thing as chicki continues Along on his Adventure he encounters a Vietnamese child who promptly bursts into tears at the sight of him feeling horrible about himself chicky hurries off while the kid's mother swoops her up and dashes into the jungle like they've just seen a ghost after a few hours of nervously tiptoeing through the Wilderness chicky gets the shock of his life when he stumbles upon a herd of elephants only to then run smack into a group of soldiers on patrol as he raises his hands
begging them not to shoot he realizes amongst the soldiers is his friend from the neighborhood Kevin chicky freaking da to you in a panic chicky spills the beans to his buddy about how he's convinced the CIA is hot on his tail recounting the wild chain of events that led him to this point am I dead why are you in the middle of the Jungle in the middle of Vietnam long story but the CIA they're after me man they're trying to kill me what are you talking about they were throwing people out of helicopters how'd you
know a CIA because I was in the chopper with him wait you're a CIA no no no no no they thought that I was one of them he pleads with Kevin to take him to the air base and after some serious arm twisting Kevin reluctantly caves in even though he's supposed to be fixing Choppers back at the very place chicki just bolted from once they finally make it to the base Kevin pulls some strings to help chicky snag a chopper back Bound for Saigon as the chopper heads out chicky throws his friend a beer after
finally reaching Saigon chicki hauls himself down to the harbor only to discover that his ticket home has sailed off without him thanks to a tip off about a surprise raid the dispatcher advises him to visit the US Embassy chicky notices that traffic officer he met a few days ago he asks him how to get to the Embassy and the guy leaves his spot to show chicky the way on the way they have a conversation the guy says he'd like to see the us when the war is over just out of politeness chicky advises him to
visit New York first and he'll buy him a beer but the naive guy takes his words to heart and asks for his address what what what New York street you live on you serious you really coming un let you you're not serious no I'm serious yeah I'm more serious than you his sincerity impresses chicki and he writes down his address and phone number in the guy's notebook they say goodbye to each other promising to meet again in New York chicki storms the US Embassy and Spills his guts to the lady at the front desk only
to learn that his captain left a message the captain said if you're not dead he'll take you back on the ship if you can catch up with it well I'm not dead so not dead so so sorry hold on what what's what's going on how do I catch up with it you sit after a long wait chicky gets rudely awakened by the desk clerk who tells him that she can snag him a flight to Manila the next day heading back to the hotel he'd visited earlier he stumbles upon the same journalists at the bar knocking
back a few joining their merry little gathering he regales them with Tales of his escapades in the war zone whipping out a snapshot for dramatic effect and leaving them utterly shocked you're serious impressed by chick's courage one of the journalists by the name of Arthur takes a picture of him and offers to buy the young man drinks chiy Donahue is drinking on me the two engage in a heated conversation Arthur explains that the war was being led by politicians who were sending kids like chick friends to die on the front lines while they're conversing the
two men begin to hear gunshots and are startled by the sound of a loud explosion following Arthur out of the hotel the two two men try to get to the Embassy but find out from one of the American soldiers that Saigon is under attack you got to get to the Embassy forget it there's fighting on every block and Charlie as the embassy as chicky approached one of the Jeeps an explosion suddenly blows off one of the solders hands leaving chicki in shock amidst dodging gunfire and bullets chicki finally reached the embassy only to witness an
armed truck blast a hole in the embassy walls during the Panic chicky spots that traffic officer he had spoken to earlier the one who had promised to visit him in New York dead on the street Street despite his efforts to help Arthur yelled at him to get off the street informing him that the man was already dead the two men successfully break into an abandoned house and spend the night there the next morning they make their way to the US Embassy where Arthur captures images of the devastation when other journalists mentioned to Arthur that the
enemy breached the compound through the exploded wall how did they get in here do you see sappers blew the wall open that wall our guys blew that up after the VC was already in here in the distance a large explosion erupts from the military base prompting Arthur and chicki to make their way towards it they find a car with the keys in the ignition along the journey chicki is deeply affected by the sight of the deceased on the streets and The Grieving countrymen upon reaching the base he hurries inside and locates his friend Bobby in
the infirmary heard a rumor you were coming bringing beers some yeah after exchanging pleasantries Bobby informs chicky that the entire country is on lockdown with only military planes permitted to take off despite chicky offering Bobby a drink the trauma azed Soldier declines stating that beer won't make him feel better the guy recalls the lieutenant who asked him to get a job in the CIA and calls the poor guy asking for help getting on a flight from Vietnam chicki then pleads with his friend to give him a ride to the airbase recalling haers Shaw's promise to
assist him with anything he needs he also extends the offer for Arthur to come along but the journalist refuses I don't want to get out of Vietnam what are you talking about I'm a walk correspondent chick this is a war this ain't a war no more it's mass murder that's what war is Chick it's one giant crime scene the lieutenant meets them at the air base and again asks him to put in a good word for him at the CIA this time chicki decides to sincerely admit to the lieutenant that he is not a CIA
agent I'm not CIA yeah right no really I'm not so what are you I'm nothing you guys are the best as chicky prepares to board his plane Bobby informs him that they have found Tommy's dead body devastated by the news chicky bids farewell to his friend and Boards a plane to Manila seated alone beside the row of coffins chicki is overwhelmed by a sense of dread upon finally arriving home chicky is welcomed by Red who spots him walking down the street and invites him into the bar to meet his other friends overwhelmed by his experiences
he confides in his friends and the colonel expressing his disbelief in their actions in Vietnam I'm not so sure we're saving the world this time well right or wrong it sounds like you need a drink despite the Colonel's offer to buy him a drink chicky explains that he has something to attend to First and heads to Tommy's house as chicky knocks on the door and Tommy's mother answers he becomes emotional and confesses that he was the one who had encouraged Tommy to enlist he is burdened by the guilt of his friend's death Tommy's mother forgives
him and Embraces him demonstrating that she does not hold him responsible chicky then heads to the park where dozens of candles were lit for the Fallen Soldiers and runs into his sister after telling him never to do anything like that again and informing him how worried the family is Christine sits next to him hugging him gently telling her that he plans to take a new Direction in his life chicky hands his sister a beer and tells her he had saved the last one for her as the movie concludes it is revealed that Collins Rick Kevin
and Bobby all returned home safely chicky ultimately graduated from high school and later from Harvard University's Kennedy School of government he pursued a career as a construction worker one of the New York tunnel Builders and eventually assumed the role of their legislative and political director I hope you enjoyed the recap you can also watch other caps on the channel