An imperious colonel. A commanding major general. A prim Pentagon secretary. A gorgeous Wac. A high-class Georgetown University coed. A draftee, Garret Spencer (former university art major), stationed 3, ooo miles from California, inexorably gets himself layered into their lives while setting up a studio in an abandoned loft near the Potomac. He figures he has two years to get his paintings into a major DC gallery.

In addition, there's John Wayne, Norman Mailer, Jackie Kennedy, Mark Rothko, and Robert McNamara predicting a win in Vietnam based on rising enemy body counts. There are anti-Vietnam war protest marches everywhere, with one group claiming they will levitate the Pentagon. It's 1965 - the sexual revolution is in full swing, baby. Ban the bra! There are flashbacks to surfing storm-driven waves, high school pranks perpetuated by Spencer's trouble prone pal, and a randy overnight Tijuana excursion.