Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams) loses his sweet assignment in Crete to bring a little brightness to the lives of the soldiers in the DMZ in Vietnam on Armed Services Radio. His personality comes alive, as do many alteregos when he hits the sound waves. The boys in uniform love him but it is clear from the start that his immediate superior does not. Adrian is immediately set upon to only give out news that has passed censors and to not make fun of the Army and other hot topics which puts him constantly at odds with his commanding officers. He finds himself enamoured with a local girl and goes to great extremes to get close to her, including teaching her English class. In getting close, he also gets to know her brother, who shows Adrian another side of Vietnam. Sometimes, even the most high energy person can be drug down.