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Billy Joins WWII
Billy, a young man from Ilium, joins the war as a Chaplain's Assistant. He is not a good soldier, and finds himself in a group with two scouts and an antitank gunner, who identify as the "Three Musketeers." Roland Weary and the two scouts, unfortunately, die after meeting Billy. The scouts separate from Roland and are shot, and after being captured, Roland contracts gangrene from his tight shoes and dies. Billy joining WWII leads to the strange development as a character and coping of his PTSD. -
Billy Becomes Unstuck In Time
Billy first time travels after meeting the Three Musketeers and finding himself against a tree in the German Forest. In this travel, Billy sees a violet light, then finds himself at the YMCA swimming pool as a young boy, where his father would teach him how to swim by throwing him in the pool and hoping for the best. Billy watches himself sink to the bottom until his dad pulls him out. Billy will use this delusion of time travel as a coping mechanism for his PTSD during and after the war. -
Billy Arrives in Dresden
Billy and other American prisoners arrive in Dresden after staying in the German prison for the month of December for contract work. To the prisoners, the city is something of their dreams compared to their last month in the dingy prison. One prisoner even describes the town as "Oz", which is a metaphor meaning that Dresden and anything happening to Billy Pilgrim is all a dream, like that of Dorothy. Nothing good lasts for Billy because not even a month in his stay, Dresden is destroyed. -
Dresden is Destroyed
Billy and other American prisoners are working in Slaughterhouse Five when Dresden is firebombed by British and American forces. The American Prisoners and four guards take cover in the meat locker during the attack, and when able to leave the locker, find Dresden in ruins. Billy describes the town as a pile of black rubble surrounded by black smoke. The group sees logs throughout the town, which are actually people. The group finds Dresden to now be a ghost town of what it was. -
Billy is Honorably Discharged from the Army and Enrolls in School
Because of the Dresden attacks, Billy is honorably discharged from his position in the army. After his discharge, Billy enrolls in the Ilium School of Optometry. This enrollment leads to his monetary success, as he opens up an optometry business in the late 1960's and early 70's. Billy also marries the owner of the school's daughter in his senior year of college. Billy's failure of a marriage and wife is important to his disease, as they are two symptoms of his disease. -
Billy Enters the Veteran's Hospital
Billy checked himself into a veteran's hospital near Lake Placid after having suffered a mild nervous breakdown. Here, Billy is diagnosed with PTSD and treated through shock treatments, and later released. Billy also meets Eliot Rosewater, a fanatic of the sci-fi author Kilgore Trout, and a veteran himself. Soon, Billy and Rosewater would both grow endearment and fascination with Trout's themes of escapism and extraterrestrial life forms, which their friendship was based off of. -
Billy is Abducted by Tralfamadorians
In the summer of 1967, Billy wakes up in the late hours of the night on his daughter's wedding night. Billy spends time by watching a movie about WWII, both forward and backwards. He drinks a bottle of flat champagne and then is abducted by the Tralfamadorians, and alien species who is highly educated on time dynamics and the universe itself. Because of the abduction, Billy is more aware about time travel and basic dynamics of the universe. Billy also meets Montana Wildhack, his zoo mate. -
Billy is in an Airplane Crash
Billy and other Optometrists are on their way to a national convention of Optometry when the plane crashes into Sugarbush Mountain in Vermont. Everyone but Billy and the copilot, including Billy's father-in-law, is killed in the accident. Ski instructors from the ski resort below save Billy and the copilot, sledding them to the local hospital. Billy is left with a fractured skull, and after surgery is unconscious, where he dreams about many "true" things, which are described to readers. -
Valencia Dies
After Billy is in the airplane accident, Valencia travels from Ilium to the local hospital in Vermont with their Cadillac. His wife was hysterical, in fear that he may be dead or live to be a paraplegic. Missing a turn, she slammed her brakes and was rear ended by a Mercedes. However, Valencia kept going, and by the time she arrived to the Vermont hospital, had become unconscious. Valencia died an hour later due to carbon monoxide poisoning in her car. This would leave Billy truly alone. -
Billy is Killed
Billy Pilgrim is in Chicago giving a lecture on flying saucers and the true nature of time. When escorted off stage, Billy requests that his security guards leave him be, and "go home to [their] wives and children, and it is time for [him] to be dead for a little while." When the security guards leave Billy, someone (it can assumed that it's Lazzaro or someone hired by him) shoots Billy from a distance, and Billy is killed.
