Operation Dumbo Drop is set in Vietnam in 1968. When Captain T.C. Doyle (Ray Liotta) makes an error which results in the death of a prized elephant in a friendly village, he and Captain Sam Cahill (Danny Glover) promise to replace the animal for an upcoming ritual.
The two Green Berets assemble a team for the mission, including a bumbling Iowa recruit, a black soldier with only a few days left in country who is frightened something might still happen to him, and an amoral wheeler dealer procurement officer. Together they find an elephant, named Bo Tat, and a Vietnamese orphan boy who knows how to handle him.
Shot in Thailand and directed by Simon Wincer, this true story emphasizes the comic complications that ensue as the Americans frantically try to get Bo Tat to the village, a journey which requires long walks and travel by airplane and truck, not to mention avoiding the Viet Cong along the way.
Operation Dumbo Drop has a nifty and endearing message about the value of keeping one's word and the camaraderie that can grow out of doing something good during a very bad war.