The story of how a community and a nation, boldly led by a young Dr. Jonas Salk and his research team at the University of Pittsburgh, came together in the early 1950's to defeat polio, the most feared disease of the 20th century. By highlighting the stories of the unsung heroes who waged war with Salk and his team against the 'summer plague,' the documentary does what no other film on the subject has - it reveals the story from the insiders' point of view and gives audiences hope that the spirit of cooperation which spurred the development of the Salk polio vaccine could be a model for solving contemporary problems.