The setting is WWII Italy, with Dana Andrews starring as Sgt. Tyne, one of the officers leading a platoon in an attempt to take a farmhouse in the Italian countryside, which is now a German stronghold. As the troops prepare to attack, they contemplate the lives that have led them to this place and think about how to most effectively do their jobs. The men repeat their mantra, hoping it will be a talisman: Nobody dies.