 On the same day that he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary valor in the European campaign during World War II, Sergeant Joe Dusak (Harry Morgan as Henry Morgan) is charged with desertion during combat by a military court. Also summoned to testify are Corporal Crocker (John Locke), Corporal Quinn (Gregory La Fayette)and Private Pope (Robert Levin), the only surviving members of a patrol led by Dusak. The charges stem from a patrol into the Black Forest of Germany in which Dusak claims the patrol got lost. Sergeant William Hutchins (Karl Lucas) testifies that he ran into Dusak s patrol, and the men were laughing and not lost.