R.D. "El Guru" Guererro and Greg James are two young Vietnam veterans who strike up a friendship while working at an Army hospital in Germany. On duty they work conscientiously, but off duty they pursue travel, bar hopping, and short-term relationships in Europe as opposed to passively staying in the barracks waiting for military discharge. Their adjustments to civilian life result in conflicts over hanging onto relatively hedonistic lifestyles vs. long-term stability as independent adults into their 30's. Several choices they made, colored by instances of good and bad luck as well as their developing values, influence their fates.