During the Korean War, the Soviets and Chinese capture a U.S. Army platoon and take it to Manchuria in communist China. Three days later, Staff Sergeant Raymond Shaw and Captain Bennett Marco manage to return to UN lines. Sergeant Raymond Shaw, brainwashed secretly and then freed with the rest of his patrol after capture in Korea comes home an unwitting hero and Congressional Medal of Honor Winner to be idolized by America. Only the Communists who indoctrinated him know when and how he will explode and they alone control his actions as the fateful hour approaches.