- In 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam.
- A new Disc Jockey is shipped from Crete to Vietnam to bring humor to Armed Forces Radio. He turns the studio on its ear and becomes wildly popular with the troops but runs afoul of the middle management who think he isn't G.I. enough. While he is off the air, he tries to meet the Vietnamese, especially girls, and begins to have brushes with the real war that never appears on the radio.—John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
- In 1965, Airman Second Class Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams), of the United States Air Force, arrives in Saigon from Crete to work as a DJ for the Armed Forces Radio Service there. Cronauer is greeted, and also befriended, by Private First-Class Edward Montesquieu Garlick (Forest Whitaker). Cronauer's irreverence contrasts sharply with many staff members and soon rouses the ire of two of his superiors, Second Lieutenant Steven Hauk (Bruno Kirby) and Sergeant Major Dickerson (J. T. Walsh). Hauk adheres to strict Army guidelines in terms of humor and music programming, while Dickerson is annoyed by Cronauer's behavior in general. However, Brigadier General Taylor (Noble Willingham) and the other DJs quickly grow to like the new man and his brand of comedy. Cronauer's show consists of unpredictable humor segments mixed with news updates (vetted by the station censors) and rock and roll records that are frowned upon by his superiors. Hauk finds nothing funny about any of it and tries, without success, to get him to change his approach.
Cronauer meets Trinh (Chintara Sukapatana), a Vietnamese girl, and follows her to an English class. Bribing the teacher to let him take over the job, Cronauer starts instructing the students in the use of American slang. Once class is dismissed, he tries to talk to Trinh but is stopped by her brother Tuan, who tells him to leave her alone. Instead, Cronauer befriends Tuan and takes him to Jimmy Wah's, the local G.I. bar, to have drinks with Garlick and the station staff. Two other soldiers are flirting with a couple of Vietnamese women who are lured away by Cronauer when he flashes a wad of money. The soldiers, angered at losing their potential dates, start an argument with the group over Tuan being their guest. The argument rapidly escalates into a full-scale brawl.
Dickerson reprimands Cronauer for this incident, but the broadcasts and unorthodox English classes go on as usual. Impressed with the DJ's behavior, Tuan sets him up on a date with Trinh, with the rest of the family chaperoning them. While relaxing in Jimmy Wah's one afternoon, he is pulled outside by Tuan moments before the building explodes, killing two soldiers and leaving Cronauer badly shaken. The cause of the explosion is determined to be a bomb planted inside; the news is censored, but he locks himself in the studio and reports it anyway. Dickerson cuts off the broadcast signal in mid-report and Cronauer is suspended. Hauk takes over his time slots, but his poor attempts at comedy and insistence on playing polka music, instead of rock and roll, lead to a flood of obscene and insulting letters and phone calls from servicemen who demand that Hauk be removed and that Cronauer be put back on the air.
In the meantime, Cronauer spends most of his time drinking and trying to pursue a relationship with Trinh, only to be rebuffed at every attempt. At the radio station Taylor intervenes on his behalf, ordering Hauk to reinstate him, but Cronauer refuses to go back to work when Garlick brings him the news. He now fears that Dickerson will send him to the front lines if he does anything else that command considers offensive. During a traffic jam, Garlick and Cronauer's vehicle is stopped by a convoy of soldiers; the GIs persuade him to do an impromptu "broadcast" for them, giving them a good laugh before they go off to fight. The performance for the troops - many of whom Cronauer realizes won't come back alive - renews his sense of purpose and reminds him why his job is important during the war, and he is soon back on the air, sending the unit a somber tribute with "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong.
Dickerson devises a ploy to get rid of Cronauer by sending him and Garlick to interview soldiers in the field - knowing that the only road into this particular area, An Loc, is controlled by the Viet Cong (VC). Their jeep is blown off the road by a mine and they are forced to hide in the jungle from the VC patrols. Back in Saigon, Tuan learns of their trip after Cronauer fails to show up for English class, then steals a van and drives off after them. He finds them, but the van breaks down and they must flag down an Army helicopter to take them back to the city.
At the station, a gleeful Dickerson confronts Cronauer, declaring he is now off the air for good. His friend "Tuan" is actually Phan Duc To, a VC operative responsible for the bombing of Jimmy Wah's. He will be killed if the Army catches up to him. Dickerson has arranged for an honorable discharge, provided Cronauer leaves "quietly." Brigadier General Taylor arrives and informs Cronauer that he cannot help this time; a US Armed Forces member being friends with a Vietcong could be a serious PR problem for the Army. Once Cronauer has left, however, Taylor informs Dickerson that he is being transferred to Guam as punishment for his vindictive attitude.
Cronauer finds Trinh and angrily persuades her to take him to her brother. Calling out his real name, he chases him into a back lot, where the boy angrily accuses Cronauer and the American forces of being the real enemy in this war and killing most of his family. He then slips away.
The next day, on his way to the airport, Cronauer sets up a quick softball game with the students from his English class. As he boards the plane, he gives Garlick a taped farewell message; Garlick - taking Cronauer's place as DJ - plays the tape on the air the next morning. It begins with a yell of "Gooooooooooooooooodbye, Vietnam!" and runs through a few of Cronauer's impressions before ending with his wish that everyone will get home safely.
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