All the Young Men

During a brutal winter ambush, the lieutenant is mortally wounded. With the platoon decimated, he passes command to the highest ranking survivor, Sergeant Towler, a black man. Towler is uneasy, sensing Private Kincaid would be better suited for command, but the dying lieutenant orders him to take charge and complete the mission.

After the lieutenant's death, Private Bracken initially refuses to take orders from Towler. Towler forces him to back down at gunpoint, asserting his new authority.

Towler formalizes the mission: take and hold the farmhouse strategically positioned in the mountain pass to enable the battalion's advance. He orders the group to move out and secure the objective despite their small numbers.

With their radio out of service, Towler leads ten healthy survivors and a badly wounded Private Casey on a stretcher toward the farmhouse. They press on under the weight of the mission and the constant threat of enemy contact.

As they approach the farmhouse, a grenade is thrown from inside, wounding a Korean woman. The only other occupants are Maya, her adult daughter, and her young son, which complicates the plan to press on.

Bracken attempts to force himself on Maya, ignoring Towler's orders. Towler intervenes and knocks Bracken down, enforcing discipline and order.

A night assault tests the defenders; Hunter, a Navajo, volunteers to scout in Towler's stead. They establish a password to identify friend from foe for future contact.

Hunter is captured and beaten by the enemy but refuses to disclose the password. Towler's forces hold their positions, using their firepower to repel the attackers.

After the enemy is repelled, Hunter provides the password and dies from his wounds. Towler and Kincaid learn the password and honor his sacrifice.

The outpost is attacked by a tank; Towler and Kincaid improvise a defense by dousing the vehicle with kerosene and setting it on fire. When the hatch opens, Kincaid tosses in a grenade; the tank runs over his leg, necessitating an amputation.

Corpsman Wade amputates Kincaid's leg, but Towler proves to be the only man with the right blood type to donate. The transfusion enables a successful operation despite Wade's limited training.

As a column of tanks is spotted, Towler sends his men and the civilians up the pass while he carries Kincaid to the outpost. Friendly aircraft appear and bombard the enemy infantry, signaling the approach of the battalion.