 Three Marines take shore leave in San Francisco during World War II. Frankie O Neill (Robert Wagner) visits his lower-class dysfunctional family; Nico Kantaylis (Jeffrey Hunter) visits his pregnant fiancée; and the upper-class Alan Newcombe (Bradford Dillman) visits his high-living playgirl girlfriend. Each must decide whether to make the best of his situation or break out of it. O Neill drowns his troubles in alcohol, losing the respect of a potential lover; Kantaylis marries his fiancée, but realizes he may not survive the war to see his child; while Newcombe sheds his decadent girlfriend for a pure-hearted Hawaiian nurse. Later, in battle, a heroic act costs one of the Marines his life.