Lieutenant Colonel Nat Serling (Denzel Washington), suffering from guilt after destroying one of his own tanks in a 'friendly fire' incident during the Gulf War, is assigned to investigate the death of Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan). Walden died in action, but accounts of her actions vary and so Serling has to discover the truth before she can be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honour. At the same time he has to come to terms with his own traumatic experiences in the Gulf.