Efter att ha hoppat av college blir Cherry läkare i Irakkriget, med sin sanna kärlek Emily som enda trygghet. Men när han återvänder med PTSD sjunker han ner i ett träsk av droger och brott, och kämpar för att finna mening.

This is a story about family relationships, set in the time before and during the American Civil War. Ethan Wilkins is a poor and honest man who ministers to the human soul, while his son Jason yearns to be a doctor, helping people in the earthly realm. It is a rich story about striving for excellence, the tension of father-son rebellion, and the love of a mother that can never die.

A young intern is drafted and placed in the Army Medical Corps as a buck private and is none too happy about it. Injured, he is placed in the hospital where a Major comes by and explains how army doctors make important advances in medical science. The private is inspired and promises to make a good soldier. He is even more inspired when a nurse becomes his superior officer.