Editing Platoon (film) (section)

==Plot==
[[File:25th Infantry Division shoulder sleeve insignia.png|left|thumb|209x209px|The [[25th Infantry Division (United States)|25th Infantry Division]] patch of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]], in which Taylor's platoon serves in the film. Director [[Oliver Stone]] served in the 25th Infantry in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968.]]
In 1967, U.S. Army volunteer Chris Taylor arrives in [[South Vietnam]] and is assigned to an infantry platoon of the [[25th Infantry Division (United States)|25th Infantry Division]] near the [[Kingdom of Cambodia (1953–1970)|Cambodian]] border. Though the [[platoon]] is officially under the command of the young and inexperienced [[Second lieutenant|Lieutenant]] Wolfe, the soldiers instead defer to two of his older and more experienced subordinates: the cynical Staff Sergeant Barnes, and the more compassionate [[Sergeant]] Elias.

Taylor is deployed with Barnes, Elias and other experienced soldiers for a night ambush on a [[Vietnam People's Army|North Vietnamese Army]] force. An NVA patrol appears, leading to a brief firefight. Taylor is wounded while another new recruit, Gardner, is killed. Upon his return to base from the aid station, Taylor bonds with Elias and his circle of [[marijuana]] smokers while remaining distant from Barnes and his more hard-edged followers.

During a subsequent patrol, two soldiers are killed by a [[booby trap#Military booby traps|booby trap]] and another by unseen assailants. Already on edge, the platoon is further angered when they discover an enemy supply cache in a nearby village. Barnes aggressively [[interrogation|interrogates]] the village chief about whether the villagers have been aiding the NVA, and kills his wife when she confronts him. He then demands information from the chief while holding a gun to the head of the man's young daughter. Elias arrives and, disgusted with Barnes, attacks him. Wolfe breaks up their fistfight. He orders the supplies destroyed and the village razed. Wolfe feigns ignorance when Elias accuses him of not stopping Barnes. Taylor prevents two girls from being [[gang-rape]]d by some of Barnes' men.

When the platoon returns to base, [[company commander]] Captain Harris warns he will pursue a [[court-martial]] if he finds out an illegal killing occurred, leaving Barnes concerned that Elias will testify against him. On their next patrol, the platoon is [[ambush]]ed and pinned down in a firefight, and the situation is worsened when Wolfe accidentally directs an artillery strike [[Friendly fire|onto his own unit]] before Barnes calls it off. Elias takes Taylor, Rhah and Crawford to intercept flanking enemy troops, while Barnes orders the rest of the platoon to retreat and goes back into the jungle to find Elias' group. Barnes finds Elias alone and shoots him, then tells the others that Elias is dead. While the platoon is extracting via helicopter, they see a mortally wounded Elias emerge from the jungle being chased by NVA soldiers, who eventually kill him. Noticing Barnes’ anxious response, Taylor realizes he was responsible.

Back at base, Taylor attempts to talk his group into [[fragging]] Barnes in retaliation when Barnes, having overheard them, enters the room and mocks them. Taylor then assaults Barnes but is quickly overpowered, and Barnes cuts Taylor near his eye with a [[push dagger]] before departing.

The platoon is sent back to the front line to maintain defensive positions, where Taylor shares a [[Defensive fighting position|foxhole]] with another soldier named Francis. That night, a major NVA assault occurs, and the defensive lines are broken. During the battle, much of the platoon, including Wolfe and most of Barnes' followers, are killed, while an [[NLF and PAVN battle tactics#Sapper attacks|NVA sapper]] destroys the battalion headquarters in a [[suicide attack]]. Now in command, Captain Harris orders an [[air strike]] to expend all remaining ordnance inside the perimeter. In the chaos, Taylor encounters Barnes, who has been seriously wounded. Just as Barnes is about to kill Taylor, both men are knocked unconscious by the ferocity of Harris' air strike.

Taylor regains consciousness the following morning, picks up an [[Type 56 assault rifle|enemy rifle]], and finds Barnes slowly crawling along the ground. Barnes orders him to call a medic, but Taylor does not respond. Barnes dares Taylor to kill him, and Taylor immediately shoots him dead. Francis, who has survived unharmed, stabs himself in the leg reminding Taylor that because they have been twice wounded, they can return home. As a helicopter carries the two men away, Taylor waves goodbye to Rhah. Command of the platoon is given to Sgt. O'Neill, a Barnes lackey who hid under a dead body during the battle. Overwhelmed, Taylor breaks down sobbing as he flies over multiple craters full of corpses, narrating how the war has changed him forever.