"The Club" takes place in Vietnam in 1965 and 1966. Once again the United States is engaged in a land war in Asia. Soon there will be 500,000 American military personnel in Vietnam. The soldiers go on endless patrols and suffer casualties almost daily from ambushes, firefights, sniper fire, and booby traps. The soldiers constantly talk about their longing to return to what they call "the Real World," the United States, where they can be with their girlfriends or wives or their friends from high school or college, see Mom and Dad.

One soldier does not long for the United States. He has found a gold mine. Master Sergeant Johnny Ray Yates is the manager of an NCO club. He runs the club as though he owns it. He exercises great power, operates outside of the law, and is accountable to no one. With all the U.S. soldiers arriving in Vietnam, the NCO clubs are doing great business.

Master Sergeant Yates has always been careful when it came to wheeling and dealing, in the States, Germany, and South Korea, but one night, he makes three fatal errors. One error has to do with a personal vice. Two of those errors involve Corporal Martin Paulson, who works at the club, and a soldier Yates does not know, Sergeant E-5 Aaron Edelstein.