Two childhood buddies enlisted in the U.S. Army during the first Gulf War. In a flashback, Mike "Michigan" Harold recalls telling his wife Stacey that he is joining his buddy James "Nowhere" Walters in the service, much to her dismay. When the soldiers are involved in a firefight, their leader "Shay" is injured and Walters takes command. They meet a reporter named Hoskins who interviews Harold and prods him with personal questions. Later, Harold receives a "Dear John" letter from Stacey saying that she has left him. When he is teased by fellow soldier "Radar" about the letter, Harold turns the gun on Radar until Walters intervenes. Harold turns the gun on himself and commits suicide, which leads to his funeral and Walters reciting the "Soldier's Creed" to himself in a voice-over. Written by Kristoffer Infante

White Pat Conroy was born and raised in Beaufort, South Carolina. In March, 1969 under the Beaufort School District, he starts a job teaching at a small poor school located on Daufuskie Island, an island in a South Carolina river delta, the island accessible only by boat. The island is inhabited exclusively by blacks. He quickly learns that his students, who have never left the island, lack not only a basic understanding of academic items such as the alphabet and simple arithmetic, but also of other basic necessities of life such as personal hygiene. They can't even pronounce his name, they who call him Conrack. The teachers before him, including the school principal Mrs. Scott, have always treated the students as being slow and basically unteachable of academics. Conrack, a free thinking man, decides to expose his students not only to the academic subjects, but also to the gamut of life skills from brushing one's teeth to human anatomy, and some of the fun things in life like ... Written by Huggo