Didi Sommers has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of her husband of one year on his return from a seven-month tour in Vietnam. But Marine Lieutenant Russell Sommers seems distant when he joins her for R&R ("rest & recuperation") in Hawaii. He is unwilling to converse in any depth or to engage in any intimacy with his wife, and Didi wonders if she has done something wrong. As their 7-day R&R seems to waste away, Didi implores Russell to talk to her. When he finally does, she begins to understand how much he risks by leaving the war zone to come "rest and recuperate" with her.