Fifteen members of the United States Marines tell stories about their time serving in Europe during World War I.

A current university professor and former soldier sits serenely in his office until two students, who are actually his former army colleagues, enter for essay help. The three boys discuss a possible essay topic about a real attack that involved of the army lieutenants of their time.

An American colonel posted in post-war China dislikes his younger colleague intensely, but does not know why until he realizes he is being taunted about his advanced age - an act of disdain familiar to him because he was guilty of it in his own youth.

A homosexual military sergeant, with no use for his money after his parent’s estrangement, attempts to support the destitute family of a soldier just shipped off to Iraq.

A group of Marines recall their horrifying memories of fighting on the Pacific front of World War II, while a journalist attempts to glorify their experiences for his readers.

Separated from his unit, an American soldier in France forms an unexpected partnership with a man who seems equally lost. Their adventures eventually lead them back to their unit, but not before they shoot down parachuters that may or may not have been their own men.

Speaking of his past experiences, a Vietnam War veteran describes the darker, unspoken details of life as a soldier that people often overlook.

An auxiliary naval officer posted on night watch is forced to reflect on the life he left behind and his failed dreams.

When a woman’s husband accepts his army commission for World War II, the woman can only watch with despair as her husband's battalion joins the ranks of those expected to perish in war.

A sergeant looks forward to leaving the harshness of the barracks and going home to his wife, but is unable to feel truly at home until the rain provides the illusion of distance from the outside world.