A troubled teenager from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, whose father was murdered by a gangster, runs away from the Civilian Conservation Corps to Walton's Mountain. The Waltons take him in and teach him that he can trust some people, and he doesn't have to fight for everything he gets.

John's World War I buddy visits. After he accidentally sets off a grass fire, for which Jason is blamed, and wounds the family dog on a hunting trip, John discovers his friend has not been able to put away the horrors of the war and continue with his life.