The Siege of Firebase Gloria

At the start of the Tet Offensive, a Marine Long Range Reconnaissance unit led by Sergeant Major Bill Hafner (R. Lee Ermey) and Corporal Joseph L. Di Nardo (Wings Hauser) come upon a village where the locals have been executed gruesomely for fraternising with the US troops. Di Nardo finds a sole survivor, a young Vietnamese child (Michael Cruz). Hafner's recon unit which also consists of college kid Murphy and radioman Shortwave who has only 17 days left on his enlistment exit the village and while on patrol, come upon a VietCong tunnel complex where they find an American POW. Later the Marines arrive at the poorly defended Firebase called Gloria. Hafner immediately takes control of the base when he discovers the commanding officer Captain Williams is a burned out drug addict and is not fit for duty.