The Vietnamization of New Jersey (A American Tragedy) is set in a middle-class home in Piscataway, New Jersey, where Ozzie Ann (the mother) and Harry (the father) await the return of their Vietnam veteran son, David, and his native bride, Liat. Also on hand are younger brother Et, a sex-obsessed high school junior who eats corn flakes from his unzipped pants; and Hazel, the irrepressible black maid (originally portrayed by a male performer) who is the real power in the household.
When David and Liat arrive they are both blind and she is an ex-hooker (who later turns out to be a displaced orphan named Maureen O'Hara). Thereafter comes suicide, adultery, the feeble intervention of a homosexual priest, and the arrival of a super-patriotic war-mongering uncle—plus a staccato of outrageous comments by the cynical Hazel.