Nineteen-year-old Paul Clement leaves Louisiana to join the Marines. During the journey to Quantico, Paul wears his khaki uniform as per his reserve captain's instructions, though everyone else is wearing civilian clothes. When he arrives at the barracks, he is stopped by Sergeant Hathaway, who aggressively questions and harasses him about his uniform, making him feel humiliated. Hathaway throws Paul against a locker and removes his emblems, and when the boy is finally free, he walks away feeling extremely violated. After this incident, Paul wants desperately to leave, but he can't bear the thought of facing his father at home if he were to quit. During training, Paul becomes friends with another soldier named Hugh, and together the two boys study for exams and struggle through the grueling physical exercise. One night, the platoon are instructed to complete the Hill trail run, and before long Paul becomes exhausted, wishing his leg would break so that he would have an excuse not to go any further. On the second stretch of the run, Paul can no longer maintain the pace of the soldiers around him and falls to the back of the group until the last two men are forced to hold him by the arms to keep him up. Paul is then overcome by a wave of dizziness and allows himself to fall. The nearby men call for Sergeant Hathaway, who comes over to help Paul off the ground. The men assume that Paul fainted, and though he knows he was conscious the whole time, Paul does not correct them. After a short break, Hathaway instructs Paul to continue running, now following beside him on the trail. Paul's body continues to ache, and again he feels faint, but this time he does not allow his legs to stop. When he finally pushes through the unbearable exhaustion of his muscles, Paul falls into a steady rhythm. Reassured by his new strength, Paul then feels that he could run forever. He is forced to stop, however, when he and Hathaway see Hugh hunched and vomiting on the side of the trail. When he sees that the boy is no longer vomiting, Hathaway instructs Hugh to continue running, but he refuses. So, Hathaway and Paul resume running, leaving Hugh to walk back alone. Back at the barracks, Hugh feels defeated and questions his presence there. The next morning, while the men shave and prep their gear, Hugh does not move from his bunk. Paul tries to help his friend, but Hugh only remains on the bunk, even when the platoon leaves to meet the Sergeant outside. Then, a few moments later, Hugh appears and announces that he is leaving. Sergeant Hathaway, after yelling insults at him, tells the rest of the men not to look at or speak to Hugh. At breakfast, everyone, including Paul, leaves Hugh to sit alone.