Lieutenant Gene Sinclair never imagined the war would be like this.

The training is over, and Gene begins the Pacific island hopping that will mature and harden him, and all the other GIs. Attached to the 24th Infantry Division, Gene's anti-aircraft unit stays close to the front lines of the war. He soon meets all that World War II can throw at him: accidents, injury, typhoons, supply shortages, hallucination-filled malaria, and the death of his friends. All the while Gene tries to hold onto the love of his life, Sarah Gale, through the tenuous lifeline of infrequent letters. Sarah Gale is on her own journey as a WAC photo interpreter and faces her own dangers that Gene cannot prevent when she's posted to China. Through it all Gene develops the fortitude to lead his battery and survive this hell on earth. That is, until a special mission almost proves to be Gene's undoing.