The "USS Appleby" receives an SOS from two U.S. soldiers on a small island under fire by Japanese. It turns out to be two U.S. and two Japanese soldiers who think WWII is still active and have waged and are still fighting a 4 man war 17 years after it ended.

"Operation: Birthday" is underway on the USS Appleby but it appears destined for failure. O'Toole and the crew - broke as usual - want to get Chief Nelson a present - But the Chief is the only man on board with a bankroll.

St. John has lost the money that commander Stoner gave him to pay for a diplomatic party. O'Toole agrees to arrange the party for free - and his plan includes borrowing food from other ships in the fleet and asking Chief Nelson to prepare the "wine."