Don Quix loves taking risks. When Don is caught AWOL with buddy Ken Jackson, his dreams of flying are shattered, but he still manages to become a sergeant radio truck operator in a fighter control squadron. Ken is sent to a demolition unit. During a baseball game in a French forest, Don narrowly escapes a sniper's bullet. In Verviers, and Liege Belgium, he has daily encounters with buzz bombs but suffers only minor cuts dodging shrapnel. Using forged passes to visit a girlfriend; he freely roams restricted areas when similarly-daring soldiers are court-martialed.
But Sergeant Quix's jauntiness is tempered by tragic loss. His reunion with Ken in Verviers is violently cut short. Another close friend, Technical Sergeant Stanley Firestone, dies in a V-1 attack while pulling a shift for a newly engaged radio man.
Meanwhile, Don begins a torrid love affair with Denise Vervier, a beautiful Belgian seamstress far wiser than her 23 years. Denise's husband was sent to a forced labor camp four years ago and is presumed dead. When he unexpectedly returns, Don and Denise face the most difficult decision of their lives.