In 1950, at the onset of the Korean War, the U.S. Marines, supported by tanks, air cover and naval guns land on an enemy-controlled beach. Among the numerous American units is a platoon commanded by 1st Lt. Frank Davis. After the beach is secured, Davis' outfit is ordered to capture an enemy village. After the taking of the village, while the Marines are resting in an abandoned building, Frank Davis reminisces about his recent past and the circumstances of his first meeting with American nurse Mary Ferguson. Told in flashback, the story shows how the two met in a military hospital in Japan where Davis was convalescing. However, this reverie is suddenly interrupted by an enemy attack. In the aftermath, the wounded men are cared for by a group of army nurses and Davis is pleasantly surprised to see Mary among them. Mary has been transferred from Japan to Korea but unfortunately for Davis she also has gotten engaged to U.S. Navy Commander Bill Stoddard. Disappointed by this, Frank Davis vows to try to win Mary back. The nurses and some wounded men leave the area on a C-47 transport plane. Due to an impending enemy counter-offensive the whole region is to be evacuated by the U.S. Forces. Davis is ordered to fetch his platoon and participate in various engagements against the Communist Forces threatening to surround the area. After several exhausting battles among the snow-covered hills, Davis and his men are sent to search behind enemy lines for a downed American C-47 transport plane. Davis has a bad feeling that it was Mary's evacuation aircraft that was shot-down. His fears are confirmed after his platoon locates the wreckage of the plane and one severely-wounded pilot who tells him that Mary Ferguson and other nurses were on the plane. The Chinese Communist Forces captured the surviving nurses and took them to a makeshift POW camp in nearby Chinyong. This is confirmed by two forward scouts from Davis' platoon. The American nurses are suffering from bitter cold, lack of food, heating fuel and medicines and they are mistreated by their Chinese captors. Determined to rescue them, Frank Davis orders his platoon to capture this town. After freeing them from the clutches of the enemy, Davis' unit receives orders, via the wireless radio, to retreat to the main beach at Hungnam. There, the U.S. Navy is in the process of evacuating all American forces. However, in order to reach the beach at Hungnam, Davis together with his men and the freed nurses in tow must cross a Chinese-occupied, snow-covered, rugged area swarming with Communist troops laying in ambush.