Build a movie plot around this: What is the platoon's primary topic of conversation? Social upheaval
Answer:
The film begins with footage of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.It then shifts to a platoon of soldiers fighting in Vietnam, 1969 ending with a soldier dying on a helicopter. As they prepare to be sent into action again, the platoon of the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, part of the 3rd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, receives five FNGs as replacements - Beletsky, who constantly frets that he won't be able to remember everything he has been taught; Languilli, who gets annoyed when people mispronounce his name; Washburn, a quiet man and the only African-American member of the squad; Bienstock, who is outgoing and has volunteered for combat duty in Vietnam; and finally Galvan, the quietest new soldier but the most promising of the new intake.Taken under the wing of their war-weary squad leader, Sgt. Adam Frantz, the recruits are taken through a crash-course in battlefield skills, including everything from oral hygiene to a demonstration by a Viet Cong deserter as to how skilfully enemy troops can penetrate perimeter U.S. defenses.The platoon has a new commander, Lieutenant Eden, who is going to need the skills and experience of both Frantz and the Platoon Sergeant, Sergeant First Class Worcester. The platoon's machine gun team is composed of the burly Private Duffy and his mismatched, bespectacled companion, Private Gaigin. There are also three African-American veterans in the unit: Motown, "Doc" Johnson and Sgt. McDaniel, all of whom have first-hand knowledge of the racial discrimination still practiced in the army.The new arrivals get their first sudden taste of war when a quiet spell beside a river is interrupted by an enemy artillery barrage and Galvan is killed. The platoon enters the A Shau Valley and makes contact, sparking a firefight in which Sgt McDaniel is killed. This loss provokes considerable bitterness and tension as McDaniel was near the end of his tour and, being black, was denied any chance at rear-area duty at headquarters.The battalion is initially ordered to reconnoiter a nearby...