Front to back: Christopher Upham, John Marcoulier, Colonel Newman Howard, William Christie and Duffy Dubendorf
Five Army Veterans Journey Back to contemporary vietnam, intending to put their war experiences to rest.
Disturbed by the new American wars, writer and Vietnam veteran Christopher Upham reconnects with his old battalion, the 299th Engineers. Upham's long lost comrades tell him an unsettling truth - they thought that he was dead - killed in the 1969 Dak To siege in Vietnam's Central Highlands. Upham and four Engineer comrades confront ghosts, former enemies and the legacies of the Vietnam War.
Using rare archival film footage and still photographs, the film recreates a Vietnam which has loomed so large in their minds and lives for so long. The film examines soldiers' expectations of war and service, contrasted with the realities of living in the war's aftermath. Questions raised by Return to Dak To - about the role of soldiers and the long term personal effects of war - take on a heightened poignancy in this current climate.