Three rebellious African-American army soldiers disobey orders in Vietnam and refuse to destroy a village inhabited with innocent people.

The fugitives end up in the small town of Riverbend, taking refuge in the home of a sympathetic widow.

The town is controlled by a brutal, racist sheriff who kills those opposing him and takes whatever he wants from the terrified residents.

This bothers one of the officers who, with plans to take down the sheriff, convinces the others to help him create a secret training camp in the woods.

When they are prepared, the angry rebels take over the town, incarcerate the sheriff and all his cohorts and hold the rest of the town hostage in a church until their demands for media attention and an end to racism are met.