Fourthgeneration Army Col. William McNamara is imprisoned in a brutal German POW camp. But while the senior-ranking American officer, he commands his fellow inmates, keeping a sense of honor alive in a place where honor is easy to destroy, all under the damaging eye of their Luftwafe vetran Col. Wilhelm Visser. McNamara is silently planning, waiting for his moment. A murder in the camp gives him the chance to set a risky plan in motion. With a court martial to keep Visser and the Germans distracted, McNamara orchestrates a cunning scheme to escape and destroy a nearby munitions plant, enlisting the unwitting help of young Lt. Tommy Hart. With his men, McNamara uses a hero's resolve to carry out his mission, ultimately forced to weigh the value of his life contrary to his country's good.