Watched by two men, Stacey Grainger buys a train ticket to San Francisco where he is to meet the Virginian. He leaves his bag with the Station Master (Harry Harvey Sr.) but when he returns to the station to catch the train he is waylaid by the men who had been watching him. One of the men, whom it turns out is army Sergeant Tom Beale (Johnny Seven), dresses Stacey in an army uniform, fills him with rotgut and takes him to Fort Killman where he gives the clerk (Wally Strauss) papers saying Stacey is Willard J. Thorne, a new recruit. Beale is surprised to learn, however, that his own army discharge papers have not yet arrived and won't come through for two days. The unconscious Stacey is thrown in the guardhouse where he meets black soldier Billy Martin (Don Mitchell). The top Sergeant, Joe Trapp (James Daly) and commanding officer, Captain MacDowell (Les Crane), return to the fort from a reconnaissance. It is clear the two distrust one another and are not on good terms, with Trapp imply