During the Korean War, the Soviet Union and Chinese capture a U.S. Army platoon and take it to Manchuria in People's Republic of China. Three days later, Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw and Captain (OF-2) Bennett Marco manage to return to United Nations Command. Upon recommendation of the platoon's commander, Captain Marco, Shaw is awarded the Medal of Honor for saving their lives in combat. Shaw returns to the United States to a hero's welcome where he is exploited by his mother, Mrs. Eleanor Iselin, on behalf of the political career of her husband and Shaw's stepfather, United States Senator John Yerkes Iselin. When asked to describe him, Marco and the other soldiers automatically respond, "Raymond Shaw is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life.", even though Shaw is a cold, sad, unsympathetic loner.