Forrest Gump sits on a bench and tells various strangers his life's story. He was a little boy with both physical and mental problems. However, he had support from the two women in his life, Mama and friend Jenny. Mama always believed in him and made him believe in himself, and Jenny was the love of his life. After overcoming his physical problems, Forrest became a runner who ran all over the US. He joined the military where he met Bubba, a fellow soldier who talked about nothing but the shrimp business. He served under Lt. Dan and saved his life. After Forrest got out of the service, he worked for Bubba's family shrimp business, Bubba Gump. Somehow Forrest always became part of famous historical events. He popularized the smily face, talked with President Kennedy (telling him he had to pee), etc. Jenny came in and out of his life. She went to college, became a hippie, initiated Forrest into the pleasures of sex, got into the drug culture, and struggled to find her place in the world. Forrest, however, gives everyone the benefit of the doubt and has his own philosophy of why things happen. Lt. Dan comes into his life again, and he deals with the cynicism of a man who had his legs blasted away in Vietnam. Mama, Forrest's rock and mainstay, dies leaving him bereft. He starts running and says he crosses the US several times. Jenny returns, and he discovers he has a son named Forrest and that Jenny is dying. He is tender and devoted with her and sees himself perpetuated in his son.