A slow-witted man, Forrest Gump, waiting for a bus tells his life story to strangers sitting with him.
He recounts his meeting of Elvis and the death of his mother. He recounts going to college on a football schollarship. He tells his story of joining the army, being sent to Vietnam and saving his commrades and coming home a hero. He recalls meeting several presidents. He remembers playing professional ping-pong. He recalls getting rich by starting a shrimping business. He recounts becoming famous for running back and forth across the country over a period of three years.
But every story led back to one intertwining theme, his one and only love, Jenny, whom he finds and loses time and time again.
He reconnects with Jenny to find they have a son together.
Jenny is dying from an incurable disease. Forrest marries Jenny. She dies a short time later and Forrest raises their son on his own.