Nurse lieutenant Mary Lyle arrives at a medical unit in Vietnam as the triage unit is inundated with casualties. With only a background in pediatrics, she is unprepared for the level of violence and mayhem displayed in the injuries of the incoming wounded. Nurse Meg Taylor has no patience for Mary's shocked response nor for her inexperience in a trauma room. Meg warns Mary not to get close to the wounded soldiers, not to engage too personally with them, that subduing emotional connection is the only way to survive and to do the job well. But Meg has trouble taking her own advice.