When SSgt. Kyle Vogel leaves a handwritten letter on the seat of his car, grabs a pistol and steps into a Minnesota forest, we wonder who he is and what hes about to do. Flash back a few months as Vogel lies wounded in a hospital near Anbar Province, Iraq. The night before hes due to return to combat, his doctor, Lt. Kelly Tripp, presses him on why hes so obsessed with collecting battle souvenirs. Kyle proceeds to tell her what happened on Memorial Day, 1993, when, as a 13-year old boy, he discovered his Grandpa Buds WWII footlocker. Though reluctant to talk about the war, Bud, who served with the 82nd Airborne, strikes a deal with Kyle: Pick any three objects, and Ill tell you the story behind each one. As we see Buds WWII tales from Europe, we also see how Kyles experiences in Iraq have paralleled them– and how that day on the porch will affect how he ultimately deals with the losses, regrets and moral dilemmas that unite all soldiers across wars and generations.