A Southern man is drafted during the Korean War and goes to basic training, where Sergeant Quince is a cruel, relentless leader. Quince hates Black people, Jewish people, Catholics, Protestants, Southerners, fat people— essentially everyone. The group he is training consists of all of these types of people, and the sergeant puts them through hell. He makes the fat people participate in "weenie races." He has the men march through Sergeant Cobb's garden. He calls the men "shit." The man becomes tougher because of the training. No one complains because of their fear for Quince. When training is coming to an end, Quince's wife suffers a terrible car accident, and the sergeant prepares to go see here. He has no money for the train, however, and Cobb asks the men for donations. A fat Jewish man named Sachs provides a dime and, all the other men, laughing in their hatred, also give a dime each. The Southern man sees Quince outside in the rain, throwing the donated dimes as he far as he can muster. After basic comes to an end, the Southern man enters leadership school, and so does Sachs. When Sachs asks the man why he is doing it, he tells Sachs because he does not like to be pushed around like trash by men like Quince. During leadership school, Sachs loses thirty pounds and graduates top of his class. The Southern man graduates top ten. The two men become sergeants. They never go to Korea but do work around Europe. One night, when Sachs and the man are in Germany, they see Quince in a bar. Quince looks disheveled while the two young men proudly wear their uniforms. They buy Quince a beer, and the older sergeant begins crying because the two younger men hate him so much that they would show him up like this. Sachs tells Quince that the army is a pointless game. He is a better soldier than Quince, and it does not even matter to him. After the two men leave the bar, the Southern man asks Sachs if he feels bad taking away Quince's dignity. Sachs responds that he is merely doing what Quince taught him to do, and he hates Quince more than ever.