- Rumor has it that peace will come by the holidays. Wouldn't that be a nice Christmas present? But as they get closer, there are reports of more casualties. Here in Vietnam, the war doesn't seem to be slowing down.
- Everyone has a bummer of a Christmas. Sure, they get a slightly bigger meal than usual and candy canes, but where are the stockings and gingerbread houses?
- Plus, they're supposed to see a new movie called Guess Who's Coming to Dinner but get a Julie Andrews movie they've already seen instead. It's basically the army equivalent of getting coal in your stocking.
- The squad is sent on a mission to stop traffic from running between two hamlets, which sounds boring but not too bad, but at the last minute, Captain Stewart volunteers them to replace a team that's been wiped out instead. Um, that's encouraging.
- Two more men are assigned to their squad and they're off. Simpson tells Perry and Monaco to keep their eyes on Gearhart, since he's the new man in charge, and Simpson has twenty-two days left before going home.
- Their plan is to ambush the Vietcong, but Gearhart and Simpson argue over where to take cover and wait. But Gearhart's the superior officer, so he wins.
- Perry's job is to set up the claymores, which can be aimed to hit a target sixty meters ahead. But he forgets to set it up (what a goof) and when reminded, he only has a minute to do it.
- Then they have to wait around some more, but all of a sudden someone accidentally sends up a flare, giving away their location. This is when all your eye-roll practice comes in handy.
- A Vietcong soldier turns the claymores around and the men hit the dirt before they go off. Perry and the other men fire before they're told to move out.
- They follow Simpson, crawling to the pickup zone, and then call for a chopper to take them away. They try to wait quietly so that they don't give away their position.
- A Vietcong soldier squats near them to go to the bathroom, and Gearhart shoots him. Not the most dignified way to go.
- They get a radio signal from the chopper and send up a flare so the chopper can find them.
- On their way into the chopper, Walowick's gun goes off and hits the medic and one of the new men, who gets mortally wounded. The medic works on him, despite his own injury, but the man dies.
- Turns out Gearhart accidentally set off the first flare. But Perry isn't completely blameless either; he'd set up the claymores the wrong way. Plus there was Walowick's gun going off and killin gone of theirs.
- Let's just say that wasn't the most successful mission.