Private David Manning is in the 28th Infantry Division, and during the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, he becomes the sole survivor of his platoon. Manning is assigned to lead a squad of green reinforcements and promoted to sergeant. He tries to get out of it, saying he is unqualified for the position, but his company commander, Captain Roy Pritchett, disagrees. Manning then tries to back out of responsibility by asking to be discharged under Section 8 (designating him mentally unfit due to combat stress), to no avail.
Manning meets with his new men and later leads them into position on the line. The next morning, while on patrol, Manning puts Private Warren Sanderson on point. However, Sanderson goes forward too quickly and gets separated from the squad, before narrowly avoiding contact with the enemy. Manning eventually decides the squad must leave without Sanderson right before the latter returns. After this incident, Manning is scorned by his peers and berated by his platoon leader, First Lieutenant Terrence Lukas. Manning's company makes a push toward the town of Schmidt in order to take and hold a key bridge. However, they move into an enemy minefield and are attacked by enemy fire. The company retreats, and Pritchett comes to Manning with a volunteer mission to destroy the enemy's guns, before promising to offer Manning a Section 8 if he volunteers for and succeeds on the mission.
During the mission, one of Manning's men, Private Sam Baxter, panics and starts to flee. The other men follow suit. To stop them, Manning shoots Baxter, hitting the flamethrower he is carrying on his back, which causes it to explode and burn him to death. Horrified by this, the rest of Manning's men stop fleeing and assault the position where the guns are located. Led by Sanderson, the group succeeds in destroying the guns. Manning's company secures the bridge after suffering heavy casualties, but is soon attacked by German tanks and forced to retreat. During the retreat back to the American lines, Lonnie is killed and Despin is captured. Manning and Sanderson escape. Pritchett, who has also survived the ordeal, cracks under pressure and is ordered off the lines before he can uphold his promise to Manning.
When the battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel George Rickman, asks him about the status of his platoon, a traumatized Lukas snaps and assaults him. Manning confronts Rickman as Lukas is led away, picks up the mass of blood-soaked dog tags Lukas dropped, and presses them against Rickman's chest as his answer to the platoon's status. Because of Manning's insubordination, Rickman orders him to the command post. He subsequently promotes Manning to second lieutenant and gives him command of the platoon.
Talbot and Corporal Toby Chamberlain confront Manning for shooting Baxter. In the ensuing altercation, Manning reveals a plan to destroy the German tanks the night before the assault. Chamberlain states they have no proof that Manning will not just shoot them as he did Baxter. Sanderson, who survived the retreat, defends Manning's conduct. Manning informs them that the battalion is making another push in the morning, and that if they do not destroy the tanks, then the entire battalion will be in jeopardy.
Manning leads Talbot, Chamberlain, and Sanderson in a pre-dawn raid on the German tanks, without the battalion's knowledge or support. Manning clears a minefield and cuts a barbed wire obstacle, enabling the group to continue on, before they destroy the tanks with a bazooka. The operation costs the lives of all but Manning and Sanderson, and Manning is severely wounded. While being carried back to friendly lines by Sanderson, Manning loses consciousness from his wounds. An epilogue states that after three months of heavy combat, the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest claimed more than 24,000 dead and wounded and most historians today agree that there was little to no strategic justification for so great a sacrifice because German reinforcements pushed the Americans back and the offensive was a failure and the battle was a German defensive victory. The battle itself was overshadowed by the Battle of the Bulge soon afterward.
Cast
Ron Eldard as Private, Sergeant, and then Second Lieutenant David Manning, who progresses from greenie, to squad leader, to platoon leader in C Company
Zak Orth as Private Warren "Sandy" Sanderson, a replacement in Manning's squad
Frank Whaley as Corporal Toby Chamberlain, a medic attached to C Company
Dylan Bruno as Sergeant Patrick Talbot, a squad leader in Lukas' platoon
Devon Gummersall as Private Andrew Lonnie, a replacement in Manning's squad
Dan Futterman as Private Doug Despin, a replacement in Manning's squad
Steven Petrarca as Private Sam Baxter, a replacement in Manning's squad
Dwight Yoakam as Lieutenant Colonel George Rickman, the battalion commander of First Battalion
Martin Donovan as Captain Roy Pritchett, the company commander of C Company, First Battalion
Timothy Olyphant as 1st Lieutenant Terrence Lukas, the leader of Manning and Talbot's platoon
Jeffrey Donovan as Private Robert "Bobby" Miller, a fellow soldier of Manning's
Bobby Cannavale as Captain Thomas Zenek, the new commander of C Company
Frank-Michael Köbe [de] as Oberfeldwebel, a German Army patrol leader
