U.S. Navy petty officers Billy "Badass" Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and Richard "Mule" Mulhall (Otis Young), are awaiting orders in Norfolk, Virginia when they are assigned a shore patrol detail escorting young sailor, Seaman Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid), to Portsmouth Naval Prison near Kittery, Maine. Meadows has drawn a stiff eight-year sentence for the petty crime of trying to steal $40 from a collection box of his Commanding Officer's wife's favorite charity. Despite their initial resentment of the detail, the oddly likeable Meadows begins to grow on the two Navy "lifers" as they escort him on a train ride through the wintry north-eastern states; particularly as they know what the Marine guards are like at Portsmouth and the grim reality facing their young prisoner. As the pair begin to feel sorry for Meadows and the youthful experiences he will lose being incarcerated, they decide to show him a good time before delivering him to the authorities.
United States Air Force Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) is commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, which houses the Strategic Air Command 843rd Bomb Wing, equipped with B-52 bombers. The 843rd is currently in-flight on airborne alert, a few hours from the Soviet border.
In World War I song-and-dance man Jerry Jones (George Murphy) is drafted into the US Army, where he stages a revue called Yip Yip Yaphank. It is a rousing success, but one night during the show orders are received to leave immediately for France: instead of the finale, the troops march up the aisles through the audience, out the theater's main entrance and into a convoy of waiting trucks. Among the teary, last minute goodbyes Jones kisses his newlywed bride Ethel (Rosemary DeCamp) farewell.
The film is a drama set in World War II, following a group of United States Marines from boot camp to combat (6th Marines, 2d Marine Division). It depicts the forming of comradeships and the relentless training which the battalion, led by Major "High Pockets" Huxley, has to undergo. In two battles (Guadalcanal and Tarawa), the battalion is used only for mop-up duties, but after an out-of-line argument between "High Pockets" and the commanding general, they are used as lead battalion in the battle for Saipan, suffering heavy casualties as they land on the exposed left flank of Red Beach. Huxley is killed and as they watch his body being carried off the field his grim-faced men fix bayonets ready to meet a Japanese counter-attack.
Tough-as-nails career Marine Sergeant John Stryker (John Wayne) is greatly disliked by the men of his squad, particularly the combat replacements, for the rigorous training he puts them through. He is especially despised by Private Peter Conway (John Agar), the arrogant, college-educated son of an officer, Colonel Sam Conway under whom Stryker served and admired, and Private Al Thomas (Forrest Tucker), who blames him for his demotion.
Joe Brady and Clarence Doolittle are Navy sailors who have a four-day leave in Hollywood. Joe has his heart set on spending time with his girl, the unseen Lola. Clarence, the shy choir boy turned sailor, asks Joe to teach him how to get girls. Donald, a little boy who wants to join the navy, is found wandering around the boulevard by a cop, who takes him to the police station. Clarence and Joe end up being picked up by the cops to help convince Donald to go home. After the two sailors wait at home and entertain Donald, Donald's Aunt Susie arrives. Clarence is smitten with her from the beginning. Susan goes on to tell them that she has been trying to find work in music, and longs to perform with José Iturbi. Trying to make Susan impressed with Clarence, Joe tells her that Clarence is a personal friend of Iturbi, and that he has arranged an audition for Susan with him. That night, they go out to a cafe, where Clarence meets a girl from Brooklyn, and they hit it off. The next day, Joe visits Donald's school, and tells the kids the story of how he got his medal, and how he brought happiness to a lonesome king (played by Jerry Mouse of Tom and Jerry), and joy to the forest animals of the kingdom.
Will Stockdale (Andy Griffith) is a backward, backwoods rube from outside Callville, Georgia who may or may not be smarter than he looks. Accused by Mr. McKinney (Dub Taylor) the head of the draft board of being a draft dodger, it turns out that Stockdale's draft notices have been hidden from him by his father, who doesn't want the boy to leave home and be ridiculed. His father tells Will to be careful going to big cities like Macon and Atlanta. Pa Stockdale says he has been to those cities many years before and he was ridiculed.
Dieter Dengler, a German-born U.S. Navy pilot in squadron VA-145, is shot down in his A-1 Skyraider over Laos in February 1966, while on a combat mission. He survives the crash only to be pursued, and ultimately captured, by the Pathet Lao. Dengler is given the chance for leniency by the Province Governor if he signs a document condemning America, but he refuses. He is tortured and taken to a prison camp. There he meets fellow American military soldiers and pilots, such as Gene DeBruin and Duane W. Martin, along with Y.C., Procet, and Phisit, some of whom have been captive for years. Dengler begins planning an escape, much to the disbelief of his fellow combatants, who have been downtrodden through physical and psychological torture by the camp guards.
The film follows big band leader Glenn Miller (1904–1944) (James Stewart) from his early days in the music business in 1929 through to his 1944 death when the airplane he was flying in was lost over the English Channel during World War II. Prominent placement in the film is given to Miller's courtship and marriage to Helen Burger (June Allyson), and various cameos by actual musicians who were colleagues of Miller.
In 1959, United States Navy Rear Admiral Matt Sherman (Cary Grant), ComSubPac, boards the obsolete submarine USS Sea Tiger prior to her departure for the scrapyard. The first commanding officer of the Sea Tiger, Sherman begins reading his wartime personal logbook and recalling earlier events
Robert "Dutch" Holland (James Stewart) is a professional baseball player with the St. Louis Cardinals,. A B-29 bomber pilot during World War II, he is also an officer on inactive status in the United States Air Force Reserve. During spring training in St. Petersburg, Florida, he is recalled to active duty for 21 months. He reports to his posting at Carswell AFB, a bomber base in Fort Worth, Texas to qualify in the Convair B-36. He arrives in civilian clothing because his old uniforms are those of the old U.S. Army Air Forces. This is to the great displeasure of General Hawkes (Frank Lovejoy), the commander of SAC. The General's character is patterned after the real SAC commander of the time, General Curtis LeMay.
In February 1942, just two months after the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States Army Air Forces plan to retaliate by bombing Tokyo and four other Japanese cities—taking advantage of the fact that US aircraft carriers can approach near enough to the Japanese mainland to make such an attack feasible.
Lieutenant (j.g.) Max Siegel and other US Navy personnel are stuck in a public relations unit far from the fighting. Lieutenant Commander Clinton T. Nash, their commanding officer and a stockbroker in civilian life, refuses to allow anyone to transfer out. Much of Siegel's time is spent showing war correspondents (like obnoxious Gordon Ripwell) and visiting Congressmen around the island.
Aging, respected commander Paul Blanchard (Heston) is on his final submarine tour before promotion to command of a submarine squadron (COMSUBRON). Surfaced and returning to port, the submarine, USS Neptune, is struck by a Norweigian freighter in route to New York in heavy fog, and sinks to a depth of 1,450 feet (442 meters) on a canyon ledge above the ocean floor. A United States Navy rescue force, commanded by Captain Bennett (Keach), arrives on the scene, but Neptune is subsequently rolled by a gravity slide to a greater angle that does not allow the Navy's Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) rescue submarine to complete its work.
Pete Sandidge (Spencer Tracy) is the reckless pilot of a North American B-25 Mitchell bomber flying out of England during World War II. He is in love with Women Airforce Service Pilot Dorinda Durston (Irene Dunne), a civilian pilot ferrying aircraft across the Atlantic. "Nails" Kilpatrick (James Gleason), Pete's commanding officer, first transfers Pete and his crew to a base in Scotland and then offers him a transfer back to America to be a flying instructor. Dorinda has a feeling that Pete's "number is up" and begs him to accept. Pete agrees, but goes out on one last mission with his best friend Al Yackey (Ward Bond) to check out a German aircraft carrier. Wounded after an attack by an enemy fighter, Pete has his crew bail out before bombing the ship and crashing into the sea.