A US government germ warfare lab has had an accident. The first theory is that one of the germs has been released and killed several scientists. The big fear is that a more virulent strain, named The Satan Bug because all life can be killed off by it should it escape, may have been stolen.
Sam Gifford remembers : In prewar years he was an arrogant southern cotton plantation owner, married to the daughter of a colonel. At the beginning of the war he was mobilized with his National Guard unit as a sergeant. Came the day when, revolted by the cowardice of his lieutenant, who had fired at his own men, he hit him. Downgraded, he was sent to a disciplinary battalion. Sam now discovers his new detachment, his new commanding officer, just another cowardly brute, Captain Waco Grimes. While in combat, Sam will gradually become closer to the privates, working-class people he used to despise. He will become another man, a better man.
노르만디 침공을 배경으로 한 전쟁터가 배경이 된다. 다가오는 전투에 맞닥뜨린 미국과 영국의 두 장교를 통해 그들의 사랑을 회상하며 전형적인 전개로 시작된다. 미국군 장교인 G.I는 아프리카 전쟁터로 나간 영국 특공대 군인의 아내와 사랑에 빠지게 되면서 그들의 운명은 갈라지게 된다.
