Grandpa Zeb (Will Greer) has died and everyone is mourning. Neighbor Flossie Brimmer has also died. Mary Ellen and Erin move to Charlottesville into an apartment to be on their own. John tries to get a large lumber contract.
Jim-Bob falls for the Baldwin sisters' pretty young cousin who's visiting from a convent school, but her plans may not include long-term romance. Ben hires a mill hand with a drinking problem.
Boone Walton is placed in the care of Jason after being charged with bootlegging. John-Boy's old love, Daisy Garner, arrives on the mountain with her daughter Melissa.
Elizabeth is turning 13 years old - not quite a child, not quite a woman. Strange things begin to happen due to her being unsettled. Jason has a job giving love advice on the radio.
Verdie Foster's daughter Esther returns to the mountain. Graduated with honors from college, she cannot find a job. Erin helps her get a job at Pickets Plant. Ike Godsey puts up a board of the local boys in the war.
A former boyfriend of Grandma's comes to visit. He understands her struggles with a stroke. Elizabeth is upset that someone seems to take Grandpa's place.
Just as Mary Ellen prepares to join Curt in Hawaii, the attack on Pearl Harbor occurs, forcing the U.S. into World War II and leaving Mary Ellen and Verdie concerned for their loved ones stationed there.
A new minister joins the community at Walton's Mountain. Elizabeth helps him settle in, and begins to fall for him. Erin helps the Baldwin sisters with their memoirs.
Ben starts an autocourt venture with Corabeth. Then they find out the government stops all new constructions. Ben comes up with a clever plan to use old cabins. Meanwhile, Yancy takes a mail course to become a barber.
Jason expresses doubt to the army recruiters that he could ever kill a person. Ben is embarrassed by his hesitation to serve. Meanwhile, Jim-Bob cannot wait to serve.
John-Boy asks his family to help Mike Paxton, a friend who was recently handicapped. They show him being in a wheelchair is not the end of his life and show him how to adjust. Erin helps him get a job at Pickets.
Olivia is always tired these days. When a rest does not help, she sees a doctor and learns what is wrong. Jim-Bob tries to show that he can do more than just work on machines.
While Jim-Bob is working underneath a car, it falls and Jim-Bob has a close call with death and decides to become a minister. Elizabeth catches bugs for a school project and keeps them in the house.
Ben has a new camera. Erin walks in the room with shorts and cute top. She poses coyly, and he takes a picture. The picture becomes a pin-up for the soldiers at Camp Lee. Since losing Curt, Mary Ellen is overly protective of John Curtis.
Ike has a heart attack and is hospitalized. The Walton family children help out by running his store for him. Ben and Jim-Bob make molasses due to the sugar shortage.
Ashley Longworth returns to Emily Baldwin. Ashley Longworth Jr, that is. Miss Emily blends her beau with Ashley Jr and sometimes loses reality. Erin and Ashley begin a relationship. Elizabeth wonders if she should wear a bra.
Ben surprises his family by bringing home a woman - his new bride. It takes a while, but the family welcomes her. Corabeth Godsey wants Ike to purchase a fountain she remembers so well from her youth.
An old girlfriend of John Walton buys the Dew Drop Inn where Jason works. John stops at the Dew Drop to visit with her. She still has feelings for him, but he loves his wife. Ike Godsey opens a canteen for the soldiers.
Jim-Bob finds out he is not eligible to fly in the Air Corps due to bad vision. He realizes he can join to work on the planes even if he cannot fly them. Mary Ellen has doubts about starting to go out again.
The town prepares for a Founder's Day Celebration. Who settled there first? The Baldwins, the Waltons, or the Godseys? Jason has to prepare a piece of music for graduating from the Kleinberg Conservatory.
