Rick Parker, an inexperienced, introverted, and overly protected teenager growing up in Savannah, Georgia, in the 1950s. After flunking out of college his freshman year, he gets drafted into the United States Army and soon discovers how unheroic he actually is when faced with a life-or-death situation. Parker was lucky, and was stationed in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, unlike the 58,220 soldiers who served overseas in Vietnam and never returned, but the horrors of war still permeated his tour of duty. Coming to the realization that he is not cut out for a military career, Parker pursues his dream of becoming an artist.