A unit of American military advisors in Vietnam prior to the major U.S. involvement find similarities between their helpless struggle against the Viet Cong and the doomed actions of a French unit at the same site a decade before in this bitter look at the beginnings of the Vietnam war.

The title comes from a quote by Herodotus, the Greek historian, about the famous Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. 300 Spartan soldiers held a mountain pass against the entire Persian army; they all gave their lives, but the delay allowed Greece to prepare for their victory at Salamis. The epitaph of the Spartan soldiers reads "Stranger, go tell the Spartans that here we are buried, obedient to their orders."

Maj. Asa Barker:
Are you sure we're not in a looney bin? sometimes I think we're in a god damn looney bin!

Crew or equipment visible: During the beginning of the movie, when the XO is showing Major Barker a map of MukWa, a microphone boom briefly appears at the bottom between them.