Tam Alexander's life is peaceful and bucolic until a string of unfortunate events threatens to destroy his peace. His girlfriend dies in a vehicle accident, he shoots a man to defend his stepfather and he has to go to war in Vietnam where he must kill or be killed. In Vietnam his best friend dies alongside him in a muddy foxhole. Tam struggles not to give in to bitterness and anger because of the tragedies that have befallen him. When he returns home to the small town where he grew up his former friends don't seem to understand or care what he's been through. Good advice from a clergyman and a budding new romance put him back on the road to that place Where Once Was Peace.