The year is 1956. Brad Stevens has just graduated from high school, enlisted in the army, and volunteered to become a paratrooper. As an elite member of the Screaming Eagles, the 101st Airborne Division, Stevens is anxious to protect the United States against hordes of communists, but during the course of this coming of age story, he begins to see that his country may face greater threats from within its borders than from any invading nation.