May, 1953. US Army Private Roy Loomis is just starting his first combat assignment on the front line in Korea. Although scared, he is not cowardly but rather overwhelmed by everything that he experiences. The last man Loomis meets among the rank and file within his squad is Private Raymond Endore. On his own initiative, Endore heads off every night on unofficially sanctioned reconnaissance missions, which squad leader, Captain Wallace Pratt, finds invaluable. Along the way, Endore is not averse to killing enemy soldiers by stabbing, which he does with seeming ease. Endore seems to be fighting his own war beyond what he is required to do as an army private. Also traveling with the squad is a young Korean boy named Charlie, orphaned by the war. Loomis, who tries to befriend Charlie, learns that he is unofficially Endore's ward, and Loomis is better off not crossing Endore in any manner, especially with regard to Charlie. Charlie does end up becoming a tipping point between the two men, as Loomis believes Endore is teaching Charlie to be a killing machine in his own mold, and has made promises to him about their future together which Endore cannot possibly keep. Loomis' beliefs about Endore and Charlie become all the more important with the official end of the war.
—Huggo