Tour of Duty

News that Goldman and Anderson are missing and believed dead devastates the platoon and Alex.

Goldman reveals to Zeke that it may be time for him to move to a desk job. Alex is glad to see Myron back but tells him that she is going to take the Paris job. Elsewhere, Taylor, Percell and Ruiz tease a new recruit who is a pacificist. Taylor knocks the new medic, Hockenberry on his butt. Zeke is just as horrified as the rest when he is told by Doc Hock that he won't carry a weapon. Afterwards, Anderson meets Goldman's replace, a no-nonsense but wet-behind-the-ears new LT who thinks he already knows everything there is to know. Zeke also learns that he has received a promotion. Alex arranges a final going-away party for her and Myron. Alex ends up missing her plane to Paris but not because of the party but because she has a chance to do an exclusive and dangerous interview with a VC officer. After getting out of the interview, Alex meets Myron in Saigon, for there last dinner, before going to Paris. As Alex waits for Myron in front of the restaurant, a bomb explodes, killing her with

Col. Carl Brewster enters the local Vietnamese town to make the ""boom-boom"" parlor off-limits because of men catching the clap. Goldman and McKay attended the funeral for Alex who was killed in the bomb explosion. Anderson and the squad have been transferred to MACV-SOG, under the command of Col. Brewster. Brewster lets Hockenberry ""volunteer"" for a special assignment ,cleaning up the whore houses. Goldman has trouble dealing with his feelings about Alex's death. Anderson is thinking about using some of his leave to go visit his daughter, but he is concerned about Goldman. Goldman returns to the unit, both he and Anderson meets up with Brewster for the first time. Goldman breaks up a party when the unit meets up with Baker again -- by telling Johnson that he is in charge of the squad while Anderson goes home for some leave. Zeke visits his ex-wife, Carol, and their daughter, Katie. Johnson finds he has a hard time filling Zeke's shoes and dealing with Percell who is on a dangerous downward spiral.

While Zeke is back in the States, Brewster sends the men out to locate a missing SOG team. Once in the bush, Team Viking locates the missing soldiers, who all appear to be dead. It is an NVA trap; the enemy opens up just as the American reach the bodies but retreat quickly when Johnson leads a counter-strike against them. Johnson faces a crisis of confidence because men under his command were killed. Ruiz is struggling with Doc Hock's pacifist attitudes, Johnson is getting worse and Taylor is losing faith in everyone. Anderson arrives back in Texas and spends time with Dr. Seymour. They spend the weekend together and discuss the days ahead, Zeke has trouble seeing any future that involves him returning to the World.

Utter havoc reigns in the jungle after a newby makes a mistake and two other soldiers are killed going to his resuce. The men are led by Lt. Beller, and his unit has seen far too much action and too much death. Beller is an old friend of Goldman's, together they are sent back out to search for an NVA regiment. Beller tells command that his men need rest or they are going to snap but Brewster insists they must go out. Meanwhile everyone is happy to see Anderson return, except for the ever-depressed Percell. Goldman spends some time with Beller. Percell is going over the edge fast and no one knows that he has started to use drugs. Anderson discovers that Brewster is married to a Vietnamese girl and they have a child. The next day, on their mission, Percell (drugged up) starts to panic. Beller's unit creates a My Lai-type of massacre in the field and that sends Percell off the deep end and straight into the waiting arms of heroin dealers.

McKay has a date with a ""killer"" blonde but on the way to take her shopping he ends up hitting a child with his jeep and comes in contact, for the first time, with a makeshift orphanage where he decides to get involved with the orphans. Doc finds Purcell high on grass and drugs. Purcell leave in a huff, seeking more drugs, and ends up arrested and assigned to a ""shit burner"" detail. Goldman goes to Brewster to report the massacre. Later, Goldman and Anderson are briefed on a mission into Cambodia to kidnap a defecting NVA officer. Percell tries to desert.