2003年，前海军陆战队军医拉里“博士”（史蒂夫.卡瑞尔），重新集结30年前曾与他一同参加越南战争的前海军陆战队的萨尔（布莱恩特.蓝斯顿）和理查德.穆勒（劳伦斯.菲什博恩）去执行一项不同以往的任务：去埋葬博士的儿子，一位在伊拉克战争中牺牲的年轻海军。博士拒绝了在阿灵顿公墓的军队安葬仪式，在他的老朋友们的帮助下，将棺木在这个喜忧参半的旅程中沿着东海岸移至新罕布什尔州郊区的家。在路上，博士，萨尔和穆勒追忆并分享了有关这场至今仍在影响他们生活的战争的记忆。导演理查德.林克莱特和编剧达里尔.伯尼克森在三部曲之后再次合作，因为他们无论过去和现在都在与战争的痛苦搏斗。In 2003, 30 years after they served together in the Vietnam War, former Navy Hospital Corpsman Richard "Doc" Shepherd re-unites with ex-Marines Sal and Mueller on a different type of mission: to bury Doc's son, a young Marine killed in the Iraq War. Doc decides to forgo burial at Arlington Cemetery and, with the help of his old buddies, takes the casket on a bittersweet trip up the East Coast to his home in suburban New Hampshire.