He is escorting the remains of Dwight Johnson, an Army Lieutenant, for delivering them to his parents Luther and Ada at Rockville, Georgia, which he estimates will be a short duty, and one in which he will have nothing really helpful to do.

The funeral is prevented from taking place because, despite desegregation being legally in effect for many years, the town still is deeply segregationist, and its authorities refuse the deceased to be interred in the local "for caucasians only" cemetery.

They propose Lt. Johnson's burial to take place in the cemetery for Blacks located in the outskirts of the town, notwithstanding his unit has recommended him for the Silver Star.

Major Laird searches for a way to break the impasse with the help of Eudora McCallister, the lady who sold the Johnsons a plot of her property in the cemetery, and the local newspaper's editor Sam Jennings.

[2] John J. O'Connor from The New York Times, said that "'Resting Place' dissipates some of its potential power by paying too much attention to the fairly predictable Vietnam investigation.