The newly wed Jimmy and Maggie McDougal learn the news of Maggie's pregnancy just weeks after Jimmy is called to duty in World War II. Frequent letters and their deep love for one another provide comfort while they are apart. But, suddenly, Jimmy's letters to Maggie cease and the Army confirms the worst of her fears. Alone, Maggie raises their daughter, Mary, who never knows her father. Some sixty years later, Maggie is diagnosed with a terminal illness and eventually moves in with Mary, who becomes her caretaker. At about the same time that Maggie learns of her diagnosis, the Army, during a...