The Fighting 69th

The plot centers on misfit Jerry Plunkett (James Cagney), a tough talking New Yorker who displays a mixture of bravado and cowardice. Caught up in patriotic fervor when the US enters WW1, he proves to be a coward in battle. The military chaplain, Francis P. Duffy (Pat O'Brien (actor)) attempts to reform Plunkett. Sgt. "Big Mike" Wynn (Alan Hale, Sr.) loses both his brothers in action due to Plunkett's blunders. Major Donovan ultimately orders Plunkett to be court-martialed. While awaiting execution, his jail cell is destroyed by a German shell, freeing him. He then sees Father Duffy ministering to several wounded troops, urging them to keep their faith and have courage. Shamed and inspired by Donovan's forbearance, Plunkett runs to rejoin his unit at the front. Coming across a mortar whose crew had almost all been killed, he forces the only surviving crewman, Sgt. "Big Mike" Wynn, to show him how to operate it. He then uses it to save his entire unit. Finally he sacrifices his life to protect "Big Mike" by covering a grenade with his body.