As the Korean War rages on, Lt. Polly Davis (Joan Leslie) flies to Japan for her first assignment, hoping to be near her fiancé, handsome helicopter pilot Capt. Mike Barnes (Arthur Franz) - but she quickly learns he is missing in action! As the other nurses tell Polly, “flight nurses never get their men.” Polly hides her anxiety by working extra hard and is assigned to a C-47 transport aircraft, where she evacuates and treats wounded servicemen from the thick of fighting. During her missions, she faces danger, bombings, and even “Bed Check Charlie,” an enemy flier dropping nightly bombs. Amidst the chaos, love begins to blossom between Polly and Capt. Bill Eaton (Forrest Tucker), one of the pilots. However, her fiancé comes back into the picture, severely complicating matters...

While "Flight Nurse" might be a low budget effort, here we have yet another example that low budget does not always mean low quality. The cast was certainly competent and the script is very good if not exceptional. This is a pleasing look at what women were doing in service to their country at the time. Veteran actress Jeff Donnell plays Leslie's cheery pal, with Forrest Tucker the heroic pilot who gets into a few nail biting scrapes. The film never gets too technical but does teach the viewer a few important facts about military life and how every cog in the wheel is necessary both in times of war and peace. Some of the incidents in this film were based on the real life experiences of Captain Lillian Kinkela Kiel (who also served as a consultant on the film), a highly-decorated member of the flight nurses of the 801st Medical Evacuation Sqaudron sent to Korea. From Richmond, California, she flew over 175 missions while in Korea, taking part in the evacuation of the Chosin Reservoir, and also in the retreat down the Korean peninsula to Taegu, flying out casualties from Sinanju, Inchon and Wonson. Before the Korean War, she also flew 250 missions in WWII - including operating out of London during the D-Day invasion. It is estimated she treated over 10,000 wounded in her military career. She was the most decorated woman in U. S military history at the time of her death in 2005, and Captain Keil was given a full honor guard, firing squad and bugler to sound taps for her ceremony.