During the 1970s, racial tensions erupt in a small Georgia town when a black lieutenant who died a hero in Vietnam is refused burial in the cemetery. Maj. Kendall Laird (John Lithgow) travels to Georgia with the body. He attempts to comfort the soldier's grieving parents, Luther (Morgan Freeman) and Ada (CCH Pounder), and convince the white townspeople the deceased officer deserves their respect. However, Laird is disturbed when he learns the true story behind the officer's death.