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Billy Pilgrim's Birth
Billy Pilgrim is born in Ilium New York, the only child of a barber there. -
Billy's Vacation
Billy enters a time warp while on the Tralfamdorian flying saucer, and he remembers a vacation to the Grand Canyon when he was 12 years old with his parents. He hated the canyon, "he was sure that he was going to fall in." Death comes up again, as one of the rangers says that "about three folks a year" commit suicide by jumping in. Billy responds with, "So it goes." -
The Army Draft
Billy is drafted into the Army during World War Two, while he was attending optometry school in New York. He serves as a chaplain's assistant. -
In Germany
Billy is ordered to go overseas, and he finds himself in Germany, fighting against the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. He is lost behind enemy lines with Roland Weary and two other scouts (The Three Musketeers). Weary is frequently saving Billy's life. -
Billy Becomes Unstuck in Time
Before the two scouts ditch Weary and Pilgrim, Billy first becomes unstuck in time while he is in the war, leaning against a tree. It is described as, "This is when Billy first came unstuck in time. His attention began to swing grandly through the full arc of life, passing into death, which was violet death." -
German Capture
While behind enemy lines, Pilgrim and Weary and captured and made prisoners of war by the Germans. Later, they are transported into German territory to a POW camp by train. Weary dies on the train due to gangrene caused by blisters in his feet. Weary's last words were that Billy Pilgrim was the man who killed him. Paul Lazzaro swears to avenge Weary's death. -
Arrival in Dresden
Billy and the POW's arrive in Dresden. They are told by an Englishman that “it is a beautiful city and it is where the life is." When they arrive, it is described as being “the loveliest city that most of the Americans had ever seen.” The skyline was intricate, voluptuous, enchanted, and absurd. For Billy, Dresden looked like “a Sunday school picture of Heaven", the city of Oz. They are brought to Slaughterhouse Five, a factory for malt syrup, and Billy and the others enjoy eating the syrup. -
Howard W. Campbell Jr.
Two days before Dresden was destroyed, The Americans in the slaughterhouse have an interesting visitor. Campbell, an American Nazi propagandist, speaks to the malnourished prisoners, trying to convince them to join "The Free American Corps" to fight the Russians. Edgar Derby denounces Campbell, and defends the American fight for freedom. -
Firebombing of Dresden
Dresden is bombed, and over 100,000 people die. Billy survives the bombing. Billy describes the destruction, "the stockyards with all the fenceposts gone with roofs and windows gone... the little logs lying around. There were people who had been caught in the fire storm." The buildings that used to form tall skyscrapers and cliffs around the stockyards collapsed and crashed down. -
Billy Leaves
Billy receives an "Honorable Discharge" to leave Germany and go home, where he finishes his optometry degree and becomes engaged to the daughter of the founder and owner of the school. -
Billy's Marriage
Billy marries Valencia, the daughter of a wealthy optometrist. Although he isn't attracted to her appearance, he marries into her for the benefit of money. -
The Psych Ward
Billy enters the mental ward after coming home from the war, where he is diagnosed with PTSD. He has mental instability due to his experiences in the war. It is here, where he meets Eliot Rosewater who lives in the bed next to him and who introduces him to science fiction and the author, Kilgore Trout. -
KV'S VISIT
KV visits his friend Bernard O'Hare to gain more information on his book about Billy Pilgrim. It is here, where he discovers the title for his book from Mary O'Hare. He will call it The Children's Crusade. -
Billy Meets Kilgore Trout
Billy meets Kilgore Trout and befriends him. Billy was driving his Cadillac down the alley, in the town of Ilium and recognized Trout from books and sees a “meeting in progress.” Trout, since his books have never made any money, manages the newspaper deliveries for the Ilium Gazette. Billy witnesses one of the newspaper boys quit, and he offers his help and a ride to deliver the papers on the boy’s route. Trout is shocked that Billy is such a fan, and Billy invites him to his anniversary party. -
Billy's Abduction
Billy gets abducted by the Tralfamadorians and brought to the alien planet Tralfamadore on a flying saucer, on the night of his daughter's wedding. There, he lives in a zoo-like enclosure and learns about the Tralfamadorian's views on life, time, religion, fate etc. They don't believe in free will, and believe that the universe will end when a "button is pressed." -
Plane Crash
A group of optometrists chartered an airplane to fly them from Ilium to an international convention of optometrists in Montreal. While on the way to Montreal, the plane carrying Billy and other optometrists crashes into Sugarbush Mountain in Vermont. Only Billy and the co-pilot survive. -
Valencia's Death
While he was recuperating in Vermont following the plane crash, Billy's wife Valencia accidentally dies of carbon-monoxide poisoning. -
Billy's Death
As a time traveler, Billy has seen his death many times, and he knows exactly what date it is. At his time of death, he is in Chicago giving a speech to a large crowd of people about flying saucers and the true nature of time. He warns the crowd about his upcoming death, and politely tells the police to not protect him. Then, when he walks off stage, his forehead “is in the cross hairs of a high powered laser gun.” In the next moment, Billy is dead. “So it goes.”
