text: The film follows the experience of Vietnamese refugees in the United States immediately following the Fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. Tai Tran  has been appointed the camp translator by Gunnery Sgt. Jim Lance . He has arrived with his sister's two young children. Their mother is believed to have been lost in the rush to leave Vietnam. Despite the despair of leaving Vietnam and having to live in an unfamiliar United States, many of the occupants make adjustments. Minh  is silent and solitary until he meets Addie , the camp's cook. They embark on a friendship to the point where Minh is drawn out of his shell. Meanwhile, Tai and his friend Duc  find themselves enamored with two female refugees. Tai falls for Thuy Hoa, the daughter of a discredited Vietnamese general. Duc falls back in love with a former girlfriend from Vietnam who is an unhappily married second wife.