Pvt. Quizz West, who was drafted on 29 Oct 1940, along with a million and a half other young men, is on leave from basic training when he returns to his boyhood home in Ithaca, New York, where his family eagerly awaits his arrival and the fulfillment of his promise to introduce them to "the most wonderful person in the world." Quizz's father and mother, Deckman and Nell, and his younger brothers, Zip and Neil, laugh when Quizz shows up with Janet Feller, the daughter of the local postman. Although Janet has loved Quizz for years, he had not noticed his pretty neighbor until they met in New York City while he was on leave. Quizz then shows Janet the spot where he intends to build a home and asks her to share it with him, and Janet gladly accepts. After Quizz returns to Camp Grace, the soldiers count their money on payday, and several of Quizz's comrades--Pvt. Thomas Mulveroy, Corp. Tate, Pvt. Glinka and Shevlin--divide up the pay packet of Pvt. Francis Marion, a philosophical, alcohol-loving Southerner who continually borrows money from them. Glinka then relates part of a morale lecture he overheard, which is being attended by Ruby, their profanity-spewing drill sergeant. According to Glinka, the non-commissioned officers were told that fifteen percent of the men will behave themselves because of their love for their wives or sweethearts, another twenty-five percent will commit mischief and cannot be redeemed, and that the remaining sixty percent, who may go either way, must be offered something better in order to keep them on the straight and narrow. Mulveroy then does an insulting impersonation of Ruby, whom all the men despise, just as the sergeant enters. Ruby threatens to make life difficult for the men, and in retaliation, they plot to beat Ruby and Sgt. Kriven to town, where the officers are supposed to meet twin sisters Sal and Lill Bird. At a cheap night spot, Mulveroy and Glinka attempt to romance Sal and Lill, but the sisters are more impressed by the quiet Quizz and poetical Marion. Although Sal realizes that Quizz is in love with a girl back home, she tells him that he will forget her, as she is so far away. Quizz remains true to Janet, however, and leaves with Marion to mail a letter to her. Later, the company receives orders to ship out for San Francisco, but are first given a forty-eight hour leave to say their goodbyes. Quizz spends most of his leave trying to get home, but once there, he and Janet affirm their love for each other. The men then depart for San Francisco and the South Pacific, and months later, Janet reads one of Quizz's letters aloud to the West family. The family is thunderstruck by the announcement of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and anxiously realize that Quizz may not come home. Later, Quizz and the others are fighting a desperate battle to hold their tiny, strategically important island in the Philippines. Low on rations and quinine, the men are plagued by malaria and exhaustion but continue to fight. The feverish Marion, upon asking the date, remarks that it is the Eve of St. Mark, when, according to legend, a maiden standing in a church doorway can see all those who are going to die within the year. Just then, Marion notices Pepita, a Filipino woman who has been acting as the men's nurse, standing at the entrance of their cave, and he interprets her presence as proof that they will all die. Kriven, who has gone to another island for orders, returns with a letter from their commanding officer, who tells the men that, while they are free to retreat, every day they hold back the encroaching Japanese forces will aid the other troops. The men decide to sleep on the situation before voting whether to remain or leave, and as Quizz tosses and turns, he dreams of Janet and his mother, who both urge him to return. The next day, the men vote to stay, and as they pound at nearby Japanese barges with their Howitzer, the island is hit. Later, in Ithaca, the Wests listen to a radio report offering comfort to families with sons missing in action, and Janet arrives with a letter from Quizz's commanding officer, Solway. Solway has forwarded Quizz's last letters to Janet and tells her that Quizz and his friends, who acted with extraordinary courage, were shelled, but that some of them escaped in an outrigger. Solway encourages Janet, telling her that she may hear from Quizz in time, and Deck and Nell prepare to send their other sons off to join the military.