Nora, The Fifty-Cent Dog is based on a true story of a U.S. Coast Guard beach patrol dog in North Carolina during World War II. After a loving owner paid fifty cents for Nora, a stray German shepherd, she helped him patrol the beach against enemy invaders. When his life was in danger, Nora found help and saved him, for which she received an award from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.