Twenty-year-old Frances “Frankie” McGrath waits for her brother Finley to arrive at their parents’ California house, as they are celebrating his graduation from Naval Academy. Finley arrives with his friend, Rye Walsh, both men drunk. Frankie and Finley’s father toasts Finley, and then Frankie sneaks into the house to escape the outside party. She studies the photographs of ancestors who served in combat—a display she calls the “heroes’ wall.” Rye joins her, asking why the wall contains no photos of women. When Frankie explains it is reserved for those deemed heroes, he wonders aloud if it is possible for women to also be heroes. She knows she is expected to marry soon, but wonders if she might become a hero instead.

Finley leaves to serve in the Vietnam War; while in Vietnam, he and Frankie exchange letters. Frankie graduates with a nursing degree, but her senior at the local hospital is reluctant to let her be. She enters the room of a patient who lost his leg in combat; he explains he will be transferred to a mental facility because of his attempt to die by suicide. The patient asks Frankie to stay with him while he falls asleep.