It was a dangerous time to be young. An impossible time to be a hero.

The story of the war at home, and the people who lived through it.


Set in Washington D.C. during the Vietnam War era, Gardens of Stone concentrates on the trials and tribulations of the Arlington National Cemetery home guard. James Caan plays career soldier Sgt. Clell Hazard, who has come to the sad conclusion that Vietnam is unwinnable and that America should withdraw as soon as possible. His attitude is contrasted to that held by Private Jackie Willow (D.B. Sweeney), who wants nothing more in life than to go into battle for his country. Though Hazard cannot officially dissuade Willow from this yearning, he pulls a few surreptitious strings to change the lad's mind, including encouraging a renewed romance between Jackie and his former girlfriend Rachel (Mary Stuart Masterton). After so many big-budgeters, Coppola determined that Gardens would be a deliberately "small" picture, concentrating on personalities rather than opulence; the director's father, Carmine Coppola, supplied the music, while Peter Masterton and Carlyn Glynn, the real-life parents of Mary Stuart Masterton, play Mary's on-screen dad and mom. Gardens of Stone was adapted by Ronald Bass from the novel by Nicholas Proffitt. ~


A hardened Korean and Vietnam War veteran, Sergeant First Class Clell Hazard (James Caan) would rather be an instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, to train soldiers for Vietnam but instead he is assigned by the Army to the 1st battalion 3d Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at Fort Myer, Virginia.
The Old Guard is U.S. Army's Honor Guard. It provides the ceremonial honor guard for the funerals of fallen soldiers and guards the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Hazard calls them the "toy soldiers" and hates his job until Jackie Willow (D. B. Sweeney), the son of an old friend and fellow veteran, is assigned to his platoon and he sees an opportunity to make sure at least one man comes home alive.
Hazard tries to warn Willow about Vietnam but the young man sees it as his duty as a soldier to fight for his country, no matter what kind of war. Hazard hates how the war in Vietnam is being fought and feels that good soldiers are being wounded and killed in the "wrong" war in which the U.S. is not fighting to win.
Among the others in Hazard's life are his longtime friend and superior, Sergeant Major "Goody" Nelson (James Earl Jones), and his girlfriend Samantha Davis (Anjelica Huston), a writer for the Washington Post who is against the Vietnam War for different reasons.
Willow marries a Colonel's daughter named Rachel Feld (Mary Stuart Masterson). Rachel at first refuses to marry Jackie as long as he is a soldier. Rachel also hates the war in Vietnam and is afraid for her husband.
Hazard is divorced and hasn't seen his son in years due to the bitter divorce. After Willow's father, who is a retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant and a former Korean War comrade in arms of Hazard's as well Sgt. Major Nelson's, dies of a heart attack, Hazard comes to look upon Willow as a "son." He tries to teach Willow all he can about soldiering and surviving in combat.
Willow in turn tries to teach his platoon mate Private Albert Wildman, a chronic screw-up, how to be a soldier. Wildman is later ordered to Vietnam, where he distinguishes himself as a heroic soldier and effective combat infantryman. He returns from Vietnam promoted to the rank of Sergeant and is a recipient of the Medal of Honor for heroism in combat. Sgt. Flanagan (Laurence Fishburne), a fellow member of Sgt. Hazard's platoon, receives his orders for Vietnam at the same time.
Willow excels, is promoted to the rank of Sergeant and then is recommended to attend Officer's Candidate School, which he completes and is commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He is ordered to serve in a combat unit in Vietnam. Willow writes Hazard from Vietnam about all the good men in his platoon that he is losing in combat. Hazard then finds out that Jack Willow has been killed in action when he sees the burial orders for Jackie's remains at Arlington National Cemetery while on duty with the "Old Guard" at Fort Meyer.
Hazard requests to be sent to Vietnam for his third tour of duty as a platoon sergeant in a combat infantry unit. He places his C.I.B. Combat Infantryman Badge, on Willow's flag-draped coffin at the chapel at Arlington National Cemetery. Jackie had aspired to serve in combat and receive his own C.I.B., just like his late father had in Korea. Wildman and Flanagan, at that time sergeants and just recently returned from Vietnam, are also present at Willow's funeral. Wildman, who to Hazard's frustration while at Ft. Myer, would never show any attitude or assertiveness, was awarded the Medal of Honor (MOH) in Vietnam for conspicuous gallantry and heroism. While at Willow's funeral, Wildman steps into the honor guard formation and chastises a young soldier who is making disrespectful remarks as the funeral is about to begin "ashes to ashes, dust to dust, let's bury this guy and get on the bus." As he walks away, he receives a customary salute due to all MOH recipients from his old lieutenant, in the unusual situation of an officer saluting an enlisted person. Wildman smarts off at by asking "what the fuck are you looking at?", showing he had finally become an assertive soldier.
The film ends with military honors being rendered at Willow's graveside at Arlington and Hazard speaking to the mourners prior to the firing of the rifle salute and the playing of "Taps".


Release Date: May 8, 1987


Distrib: TriStar


Boxoffice: $5,262,047 2013: $10,551,000