A traumatized veteran confronts wartime memories, survivor's guilt, and the possibility of emotional acceptance.
Story Structure — 5 Plot Phases
Memories Beneath The Wound
A 1953 veteran struggles with battle fatigue and recurring visions. Flashbacks reveal wartime friendships, a courtship, and an engagement ring meant for the future.
Key Events
Postwar Battle Fatigue — A decorated veteran suffers battle fatigue, troubling his wife.
Location: 1953 home
War Memories Return — Flashbacks connect the veteran's present distress to wartime experiences.
Location: 1953 home
The 100th Battalion — The story establishes the Hawaiian Nisei soldiers' enlistment in the 100th Battalion.
Location: Hawaii
A Wartime Courtship — A flashback shows a friend courting the future wife before entering the Army.
Location: Hawaii
The Million-Dollar Wound — A soldier receives a serious wound and reveals an engagement ring intended for his sweetheart.
Location: European Theater of Operations
Visions After Injury — After a head injury, the veteran begins seeing visions connected to other men's memories.
Location: European Theater of Operations
The Father's Quiet Warning
The veteran's visions deepen after his head injury. A vision of his father and the news of his death connect trauma with spiritual acceptance.
Key Events
Visions After Injury — After a head injury, the veteran begins seeing visions connected to other men's memories.
Location: European Theater of Operations
Medical Dismissal — The unit medic attributes the visions to disorientation caused by the head wound.
Location: Rear area
The Father's Vision — A vision of the veteran's father urges him to accept his fate through head and heart.
Location: European Theater of Operations
Forty-Nine Days Later — The veteran learns that his father died forty-nine days earlier.
Location: European Theater of Operations
Rescue Order — The unit receives orders to break through German lines and rescue trapped infantrymen.
Location: Rear area
Against The Rearward Order
A rescue mission is ordered while the wounded veteran is told to remain in the rear. Rising casualties drive him and several soldiers to defy that order.
Key Events
Rescue Order — The unit receives orders to break through German lines and rescue trapped infantrymen.
Location: Rear area
Ordered To Remain — Because of the head wound, the veteran is ordered to stay behind.
Location: Rear area
Defying The Order — As casualties mount, the veteran rejects the order and searches for a route forward.
Location: Rear area
Men Follow Forward — Several soldiers join him because they refuse to wait while their friends remain endangered.
Location: European Theater of Operations
Fear Of Losing Men — Asked about fear, the veteran admits that losing more men is what frightens him.
Location: European Theater of Operations
The Price Of Rescue
The soldiers break through German lines and rescue the trapped unit. The victory comes through overwhelming casualties and the sacrifice of a close friend.
Key Events
Breakthrough Attack — The Nisei soldiers attack German positions to reach the trapped infantrymen.
Location: German lines
Friends Fall In Battle — The veteran watches nearly all of his friends die during the assault.
Location: German lines
The Grenade Sacrifice — A friend throws himself onto a grenade intended for the veteran and dies saving him.
Location: German lines
Rescue At Great Cost — The battle succeeds, rescuing 211 of 275 soldiers while causing more than 800 casualties.
Location: German lines
Carrying The Dead Home
The veteran returns emotionally to the postwar years and delivers the engagement ring. Love, memory, and grief finally allow him to cry and accept survival.
Key Events
The Ring Comes Home — After the war, the veteran gives the fallen friend's engagement ring to the friend's loved one.
Location: Field hospital
Tears And Acceptance — The veteran stores his friends' keepsakes, smiles, and finally says that he is okay.
Location: Car
Story Breakdown
Postwar Trauma — The present-day frame introduces psychological wounds that remain unresolved after the war.
Battle Fatigue — The veteran suffers from battle fatigue and worries his wife.
Recurring Flashbacks — Memories repeatedly return to wartime experiences and lost friends.
Wartime Bonds — Flashbacks establish friendship, courtship, and the emotional meaning of the engagement ring.
A Wartime Courtship — A friend courts the woman who later becomes the veteran's wife.
The Promised Ring — An engagement ring is purchased before the soldier leaves for Europe.
Visions And Faith — The head wound produces visions that connect personal trauma with spiritual loss.
Head Injury — The injury becomes the immediate context for the veteran's visions.
Father's Counsel — A vision advises acceptance through the head and the heart.
Rescue Mission — The unit is ordered to rescue trapped infantrymen behind German lines.
Rearward Restriction — The wounded veteran is ordered to remain in the rear area.
Choosing To Advance — Mounting casualties lead him and others to move toward the battle.
Battlefield Sacrifice — The rescue succeeds through fierce combat and the deaths of nearly all the veteran's friends.
Fear Of Loss — The veteran identifies losing more men as his greatest fear.
Grenade Protection — A friend sacrifices himself by covering a grenade meant for the veteran.
Return And Release — The veteran carries the dead home symbolically and begins to accept his survival.
Ring Delivered — He gives the fallen friend's engagement ring to the friend's loved one.
Emotional Acceptance — He stores the keepsakes, sheds tears, smiles, and says he is okay.
A searing portrait of war and prejudice, ‘Only the Brave’ takes you on a haunting journey into the hearts and minds of the forgotten heroes of WWII – the Japanese-American 100th/442nd. In 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, overnight Japanese Americans were put into internment camps for the duration of the war. Determined to prove their loyalty, 1400 Japanese Americans successfully petitioned the government to serve becoming the 100th Infantry Battalion. They were sent to North Africa, Italy and finally France were they performed an impossibly-dangerous rescue of the Texas 36th Division. During their two years of combat these men received an unparalleled 21 Medals of Honor, 9,486 Purple Hearts, 8 Presidential Citations, 53 Distinguished Service Crosses, 588 Silver Stars and 5,200 Bronze stars – making them the most decorated unit of their size in American military history. This is their story.
