Taps

The story takes place at Bunker Hill, a fictional military academy with a long-standing tradition of training young men of middle school and high school ages for military service. When the story opens, a young cadet, Brian Moreland (Timothy Hutton), is meeting privately with the academy commander, General Harlan Bache (George C. Scott), where he is formally granted the rank of major and chief cadet officer for his upcoming senior year, the ultimate achievement for Moreland following years of competition. However, the typically warm personal meeting between General Bache and Cadet Major Moreland as his rising chief cadet officer is spoiled as Bache receives devastating news: the land where Bunker Hill stands is very valuable to local land developers and will be sold and replaced by condominiums. There is one more year of school planned, though it appears possible that there won’t be, depriving Moreland of all he has worked for, as well as the schools’ traditions. However, while Moreland is contemplating the ramifications of this development, no public announcement has yet been made when an unfortunate incident occurs which begins a rapidly escalating chain of events.