The movie begins with two prologues. In the first, Alyosha's grief-filled mother watches the road to town, down which her son will never come, having died in the war.
The second prologue is a flashback to the war. The 19-year-old signalman Alyosha yearns to go home to see his mother. But only those who have committed a conspicuously heroic act are being allowed to go on leave. Accidentally becomes a hero, destroying two German tanks single-handedly. As a reward, he is allowed to return home for two days. But his journey is interrupted once and again because good-natured Aloyscha offers a helping hand to too many people he meets along the way.
Eventually he meets Shura, a young woman, hiding in the same boxcar he is riding. So in the end, he only gets to see his mother for just a few moments before he has to return to the front.