Seven years after his discharge, Vietnam War veteran John Rambo travels by foot to visit one of his old comrades, but learns upon his arrival that his friend has died from cancer due to Agent Orange exposure during the war.
Three years into First Blood, former commando John Rambo is visited by his old commander, Sam Trautman. With the war in Vietnam over, the public has become increasingly concerned over news that a small group of US prisoner of war have been left in enemy custody. To placate their demands for action, the US government has authorized a solo infiltration mission to confirm the reports. As one of only three men suited for such work, Rambo agrees to undertake the operation in exchange for a pardon. He is taken to meet Marshall Murdock, a bureaucratic government official overseeing the operation. Rambo is temporarily reinstated into the US Army and instructed that he is only to photograph a possible camp and not to rescue any prisoners or engage enemy personnel, as they will be retrieved by a better equipped extraction team upon his return.
Colonel Sam Trautman visits his old friend and ally John Rambo in Thailand. He explains that he is putting together a mercenary team for a Central Intelligence Agency-sponsored mission to supply anti-Soviet fighters in Afghanistan. Despite being shown photos of civilians suffering at the hands of the Soviet military, Rambo refuses to join, as he is tired of fighting. Trautman proceeds anyway and is ambushed by enemy forces near the border, resulting in all of his men being killed. Trautman is captured and sent to a large mountain base to be interrogated by Soviet Colonel Zaysen and his henchman Sergeant Kourov.
In Thailand, John Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn Burma, and rescue a group of Christian aid workers who were kidnapped by the ruthless local infantry unit.
John Rambo, the legendary former Green Beret, crosses the U.S.-Mexico border and travels to Mexico to save a friend’s daughter who has been kidnapped by the Mexican cartel.