A Marine Second Lieutenant on a thirty-day leave, Kitsch has returned to Massachusetts to breathe new life into his childhood home. A few days after his arrival, he manages to fall hopelessly in love with the first girl to slap some sense into him. Just a month later, he must report to his station at Camp Pendleton. Unable to live with the thought of leaving Mack behind when her past could catch up with her at any moment, a proposal is on the tip of his tongue.