This is the story of an armored infantry company in action north of Saigon during the phase the Vietnam War spanning the Tet offensive. The narrative unfolds from the vantage point of a young infantry captain who commanded Company C, Second Battalion, Second Infantry Regiment in the First Infantry Division from late September 1967 through the end of April 1968. 'Heavy Metal' spotlights the central role of armored vehicles as fast-moving gun platforms in the deployment of his mechanized infantry soldiers. Apart from combat actions, the book describes a soldier's everyday life in fortified field positions, the defense of the division's forward base at Lai Khe, the company's decimating outbreak of falciparum malaria and the inevitable accidents with explosive ordinance.