Content Warning: The source material and this guide contain graphic descriptions of violence, sexual harassment, battle scenes, war-related trauma, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The source material uses the outdated term “shellshock” to refer to PTSD and also contains offensive and racist language.

In 1943, Irene Woodward leaves New York and joins the Red Cross. She uses makeup to cover the bruises on her face from her abusive fiancé as she leaves to report for duty in Washington, DC.

Irene sits next to an injured soldier on the train to Washington, DC, and tells him that she has joined the Clubmobile Service, which is a moral support truck service that provides soldiers with coffee and donuts on the front lines. The soldier tells her not to go, but Irene insists that she “intend[s] to serve [her] country” (13). The soldier tells Irene that if she survives, she will start to understand why he has warned her against pursuing her plans.

Irene settles into the hotel at the Red Cross training area and meets her roommate, Ellie. Meanwhile, Dorothy Dunford, who has also joined the Red Cross, travels to Washington, DC, from Indianapolis. Dorothy’s whole family has died, including her brother, who died at Pearl Harbor.