Dr. Paul Scott, a Johns Hopkins-trained surgeon who is taken prisoner by the North Koreans when they overrun his frontline MASH unit at the outset of the Korean War. Dr. Scott is imprisoned in Pyongyang along with his Commanding Officer Colonel Jasper Hardin, Kay Storey a famous entertainer known as "The Girl Next Door," and the unit Chaplain, affectionately known as Father Tim. While imprisoned, the Americans are subjected to torture, sensory deprivation, brainwashing, starvation and all forms of physical and mental abuse. The frail Father Tim becomes deathly ill and Kay Storey is threatened with ongoing sexual abuse. In order to spare his friends from death, Dr. Scott chooses to sign a spurious War Crimes confession. After they are repatriated, Colonel Hardin has Dr. Scott Court-Martialed.