During a whirlwind two-day pass in New York, a sailor falls in love with an Englishwoman.
Michael Hanlon, a World War II veteran living in New York, rushes to the hospital when he learns that his wife, Susan Malby Duncan, is in labor. While nervously awaiting the birth of his child, Michael tells another expectant father the story of how he met Susan. Michael begins his tale at the time when he was on a ship returning home from the war: On board the ship, Michael daydreams of his home in Rhodesville, Indiana, and Lucy, the girl he left behind. Before he arrives in the United States, Michael's commanding officer, Colonel Elliott, proud of the fact that Michael received a Congressional Medal of Honor, asks him to go to New York to appear on Susan's "Man from the Armed Forces" radio show. Michael refuses the invitation, but his pal Slinky agrees to impersonate him. Susan, who is both a singer and the mistress of ceremonies, interviews Slinky and surprises him with a live telephone call from Michael's mother, who immediately asks for a private word with Susan. In their conversation, Michael's mother confides that Lucy has left Michael for another man. She then asks Susan to keep Michael in New York for three days until she can come there and break the awful news to her son in person. Susan realizes immediately that Slinky and Michael have tricked her, but she nevertheless decides to honor Mrs. Hanlon's request. As guests of Susan's radio station, Slinky and Michael are placed in a luxurious hotel suite and are given a first class tour of the city's nightclubs. Later, confusion abounds when Susan tries to keep her sponsor, Hobart Canford Stiles, from discovering that Michael and Slinky are staying at the hotel. Another complication arises when a guest at the hotel, the gregarious Russian Countess Strogoff, takes an interest in Stiles and begins a relentless campaign to win his attentions. Following a series of misunderstandings and a free-for-all brawl, Michael and Slinky find themselves in jail. Michael eventually learns that Lucy has left him, but his heart is not broken as he realizes that it is Susan whom he now loves. During a subsequent broadcast of her show, Susan proposes marriage to Michael on the air, and he accepts. As Michael concludes his story about how he met and fell in love with Susan, a nurse enters the waiting room and tells Michael that he is the father of a baby boy.
