In a jungle in Honduras, an American soldier named Peter Eldon throws one of his tattered shoes outside of his tent, where another soldier named Tommy is standing. Peter complains about the state of his shoes, and Tommy says they should hike to port to get new ones. Peter suggests going barefoot, which angers Tommy, because he does not want them to be like the locals, whom they call tropical tramps. Tommy decides they will go to port immediately. As they leave, Peter is approached by a native girl named Lola. She tells him that shoes are not necessary, but gives him tortillas for the journey. She tells Peter not to forget her, and they kiss.
Peter and Tommy hack through the jungle with their machetes. As they hike, they talk about how they have gone through a pair of shoes in each country they have been in: Mexico, Guatemala, and now Honduras. It has been nearly two years since they crossed into Mexico from America in search of a job. The men debate whether or not to go back to America. Tommy wants to, but Peter argues that America did nothing for them, just made them fight in the war and then come back to no job. The men emerge from the jungle and arrive at a native village. A local man tells them that it is twenty-five more miles to the Spanish town. Tommy asks the man for work and a place to stay, but he looks at them in a hostile manner and laughs at their tattered clothes and shoes. 
The men begin to walk towards the Spanish town. They stumble upon some ruins with an open plaza, where a group of Hundorans are doing a drill in a disorganized manner. Some of the people watching the drills spit insults at Peter and Tommy because they are strangers. So, Peter and Tommy start marching a drill, using their machetes instead of guns. The Hundorans are very impressed, and cheer as the men march away. Peter and Tommy walk along the train tracks to get to the Spanish town. Tommy says that they are going to make it to Port tonight to take a ship back to America where soldiers drill properly and wear shoes. Peter agrees, when suddenly he falls because one of his shoes folded beneath him. 
Peter swears and says that the shoe folded during the drill and now won't stop flopping around. He discovers Lola's tortillas in his pocket and says that she is the only one who cares. Peter's shoe folds again, and he angrily throws it off. He tells Tommy that he is going barefoot, but Tommy says that he cannot because the people in the Spanish town are white. Peter responds that he is going barefoot back to the jungle to Lola. He throws the shoes into the water, and then runs back towards the jungle. Tommy yells at him that they can go barefoot to the port and to come back, but Peter does not turn around. Tommy decides that he cannot go back for Peter and he needs to keep going. He sobs as he walks along the tracks, and laments that this happened just for a pair of shoes. Tommy's shoes flap as he goes.