Stew Sallaway, champion goldbrick at Clary High, could always depend on his buddy Bill Rice to get him out of a jam. Now Stew is a Marine private, and his ailing father asks Rice to have the boy to his platoon.

Rice is pressed upon by a friend to look after his girl in advance of a year-long posting in the far east without leave. She demands they marry right away, and it falls on Rice to quickly put together a formal Marine wedding ceremony.

Rice returns to his home town to aid in the burial of a Marine killed in a training accident. He has to deal with the grieving family of the boy as well as the changes that have occurred since he has been away.