Three navy war heroes are booked on a morale-building "vacation" in San Francisco. Once they manage to elude their ulcerated public relations officer, the trio throw a wild party with plenty of pretty girls.

In the Pacific arena in 1944, fighter pilot Andy Crewson circumvents regulations to finagle a four-day leave to San Francisco for himself and fellow Navy flying aces Mississip Hardy and Howard "Mac" McCann. Together with Naval public relations officer Commander Walter Wallace, who has been assigned to shepherd the three war heroes through the press, they hop onto a San Francisco-bound plane piloted by their friend, Chuck Roundtree. On the flight, Mac, who is running for Congress, confides that he joined the Navy as a ticket to a political career, while Wallace discloses that he plans to use his position to win a public relations job with shipping tycoon Eddie Turnbill. At the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, Wallace wrangles a suite for the flyers while Crewson prowls the lobby for attractive women. Once in their suite, the three discard their uniforms for black kimonos, and soon after, the flashy, flirtatious Alice Cratchner appears in response to a card that Crewson has distributed promising nylons. After Crewson invites a group of partygoers to the suite, Mac calls to confer with his wife about his campaign. Hoping to win an extended leave for the threesome, Wallace brings Turnbill to meet the pilots. When Turnbill's stylish fiancée, Gwenneth Livingston, arrives, Crewson becomes intrigued. Soon after, Ensign Lewis appears to collect a copy of the pilots' orders, and Crewson, who has no orders, entices him with Alice and alcohol. Turnbill, a self-important war profiteer, proposes that the pilots deliver a series of anecdotal speeches to his shipyard workers, but Crewson, angered at being asked to trivialize his war experiences, insults Turnbill and abruptly adjourns the party. When, in revenge, Turnbill arranges for the three to be ordered to the hospital for an exam, Gwenneth intervenes on their behalf and promises her fiancé that the pilots have agreed to speak at his shipyard. Unable to hail a taxi to take them to the shipyard, Crewson hops on a streetcar with Gwenneth, who finds herself attracted to the darkly handsome pilot. Instead of proceeding to the shipyard, they stop at a nightclub, and there Gwenneth confesses that she agreed to marry Turnbill because she knows that he will never be killed in combat. After exchanging a meaningful kiss, they return to the hotel bar, where Crewson meets an old pilot friend who is now confined to a wheelchair, awaiting certain death from his war injuries. When the dying pilot voices his last wish of flying into combat, Crewson is shaken. Consequently, when Turnbill finds Crewson at the bar and reproaches him for failing to keep his speaking engagement, Crewson slugs Turnbill, and Gwenneth throws her engagement ring in Turnbill's face. After a passionate embrace, Crewson and Gwenneth spend the night together at her apartment. The next morning at the hotel, Alice is disappointed because Mac spent the night telling her how much he loves his wife. When Crewson appears, Wallace blames him for ruining his chance for a job with Turnbill. The shore police, sent by Turnbill, then arrive to take the pilots to the Alameda hospital. There, Mac learns that he has won the election and is thus eligible for a discharge. Soon after, Alice phones Gwenneth with the news that Wallace has found another tycoon to keep the pilots out of combat and that a party has been planned that night at the hotel to celebrate. Later, at their hotel suite, Gwenneth starts to plan her future with Crewson, but when he balks at the idea of marriage, she angrily storms out of the room. Wallace then introduces Crewson to their new benefactor, paper tycoon Bill Hotchkiss. As Hotchkiss drones on about the importance of paper to the war effort, Chuck stumbles into the room, drunk, and declares that he is flying back to the Pacific. The celebratory air quickly evaporates when Chuck announces that their carrier has been sunk and the captain and most of the crew have gone down with their ship. The news triggers an attack of Crewson's malaria, and when Gwenneth embraces him to quell his shivering, he admits that he loves her. The grim news forces Mississip and Crewson to realize that their place is in combat, and they hurry to the airport to catch Chuck's plane. There, Crewson informs Mac that they are returning to war, and after Crewson kisses the tearful Gwenneth goodbye and promises to return one day, he and Mississip jump onto Chuck's plane, followed by Mac.