Who was the man without hands going to marry?
After World War II, returning veterans Fred Derry, Homer Parrish, and Al Stephenson meet while flying home to Boone City. Fred is returning from Europe as a decorated captain and bombardier from the Eighth Air Force. Homer was a petty officer in the Seventh Fleet when he lost both hands from burns suffered when his ship was sunk, and now uses mechanical hook prostheses. Al served with the 25th Infantry Division as a platoon sergeant in the Pacific. All three have trouble adjusting to civilian life.
Al is a banker with a comfortable home and a loving family: wife Milly, adult daughter Peggy, and high-school student son Rob. He is promoted to Vice President in charge of small loans, as the president views his military experience as valuable in dealing with other returning servicemen. When Al approves an unsecured loan to a young Navy veteran, the president advises him against making a habit of it. Later, at a banquet in his honor, a slightly inebriated Al expounds that the bank (and America) must stand with the vets and give them every chance to rebuild their lives.
Fred, once an unskilled drugstore soda jerk, wants something better, but the tight post-war job market forces him to return to his old job. Fred had met Marie while in flight training and married her shortly afterward, before shipping out less than a month later. She became a nightclub waitress while Fred was overseas. Marie makes it clear she does not enjoy being married to a lowly soda jerk.
Homer was a high school football quarterback and became engaged to his next door neighbor, Wilma, before joining the Navy. Homer and his parents now have trouble dealing with his disability. He does not want to burden Wilma with his handicap so he eventually pushes her away, although she still wants to marry him.
Wilma