A short while after being accepted as a student at New York University, Ted Harris, a Canadian, replaces a sick friend at his workplace, thus violating the conditions of his student's visa. To avoid being expulsed from the USA, he joins the Marine Corps which implies taking courses on 'Military Strategy and The Use of Explosives' in addition to 'Basic Training.'
As a result of a Presidential decision, Ted is precipitated into a long-lasting confrontation with the North Vietnamese Secret Service Commander.
Nguyen Quang Hung, a South Vietnamese Special Forces Officer, becomes Ted's teammate in various undercover operations.
Ted witnesses his fellow soldiers being turned into human torches, stabbed by falling bamboo traps, shot or beheaded.
Ted is overwhelmed by guilt building nightmareshis dead fellow soldiers asking him if his survival is fair when they had to pay the ultimate price.
From one skirmish to another across Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, Ted and Hung keep crossing swords with an anonymous general called 'General Shadow' by the Americans. Eventually, Ted and Hung are captured and tortured. They narrowly escape death.