During the winter of 1943, the German Army halted the American advance in the mountains of Italy; back-and-forth combat decimates Joe Peterson's platoon. On leave in Naples, Joe meets WAC lieutenant Eleanor MacKay; initially cool, she begins to melt during a bombing raid. Their romance develops despite Joe's periodic returns to the front. But whether he'll come back in the end becomes more than doubtful.

Through the perils of air combat, and an emergency landing behind enemy lines in Italy, Hank Sciaroni utilized his capability to speak Italian to help get him and his men to safety as the Germans closed in.