Despite a fatherhood deferment, thirty-year-old dance instructor Jim Tanzer enlists in the Army in 1943. Stella, his wife and partner in their dance act, regrets his choice.

Jim goes for paratrooper, but gets assigned to the Morale Corps because of his show business background. He is classified MOS 442: Entertainment Specialist.

Private Jim Tanzer is shipped to the European Theater of Operations and assigned to Jeep shows: three enlisted entertainers are driven to the front lines, where they put on small variety shows for combat infantry. Private Mickey Rooney leads Jim’s squad.

Caught in the Battle of the Bulge, Jim retreats to Bastogne, where he is attached to Team SNAFU, a hastily-organized unit composed of survivors from overrun infantry companies, dismounted tankers and artillerymen, as well as clerks, bakers, mechanics and other rear-echelon soldiers pressed into combat to support the 101st Airborne Division.