Wally makes the baseball team and Ward openly shows how proud he is of him, leaving Beaver feeling inferior. Trying to impress his parents, Beaver tries out for the band and begins practicing the clarinet. However, Beaver soon finds himself with more problems when he's let go from the band.

Beaver discovers that Ward was in WWII and brags to his classmates that Ward was a war hero. As usual, his classmates don't believe him and Beaver promises to bring in some mementos to prove it. At home, Beaver discovers that Ward was an engineer in the war and didn't actually fight in combat, leaving Beaver to take drastic measures so as not to look like a fool in front of his classmates.

An old acquaintance of Ward's stops by and offers to paint the trim on the house. However, June and Ward are both apprehensive about the prospect of an alcoholic coming in contact with Wally and Beaver, despite the fact that he says he's cleaned himself up.

Beaver has been having trouble in English and Ward persuades Wally to tutor him. Wally has Beaver look over an old exam that he once took and to Beaver's surprise, the next day, his teacher gives him the exact same test, which he of course he aces. However, Beaver is left with a guilty conscience.