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Billy gets drafted
Billy Pilgrim is a student attending an optometry school in Ilium, New York when he is drafted into the war. -
Billy fights
Billy is sent to Luxembourg to fight in the battle of the Bulge after his training -
Billy gets lost
Billy is lost behind enemy lines and thinks there's no way out, but he meets with Ronald Weary and two scouts who give him hope -
Unstuck in Time
Billy becomes "unstuck in time" flashing between different parts of his life without reason or control. He doesn't understand what's going on most of the time and gets very scared. -
The POW Camp
Billy and friends get found, and sent to a POW camp in Germany. (Prisoners of war). While they're there, Roland ends up dying, leaving Billy very upset -
Billy Makes "Friends"
In the camp, Billy meets Edgar Derby and Paul Lazzaro. They are both very angry about Roland's death and want to avenge Roland by killing Billy. -
Dresden
Billy and Derby are sent to Dresden, Germany for hard labor. They take cover in an abandoned slaughterhouse. Hence the name "Slaughterhouse five" -
The Fire Storm
Dresden gets bombed by the Allies, and Billy and Derby are in the middle of it. They take cover in their slaughterhouse and survive the Dresden firestorm. After that they are forced to dig for bodies. Derby is executed for stealing a teapot from the ruins. -
After the War
After the war, Billy is released from the camp and is sent home. Billy goes back to Ilium and finishes his optometry degree. -
Valencia Merble
Billy gets engaged to Valencia Merble and has a nervous breakdown doing it. -
Billy recovers
Billy recovers from his breakdown in a veterans hospital. After that he gets married to Valencia, and has two kids named Robert and Barbara. -
The kidnapping
Billy is kidnapped the night of his anniversary to a planet called Tralfamadore. They tell him about time and fate/destiny, and Billy gets a new view on life. -
The exhibit
Billy is put in an exhibit on Tralfamadore with actress, Montana Wildlife for several months. -
The return
Billy is returned to earth but nobody noticed he was gone. This left him very confused and upset. We see here that Billy is still not fully sane. -
Plane crash
Pilgrim becomes a respected optometrist, and is invited to many things for his accomplishments. He gets into a plane crash in 1968 on the way to a conference in Montreal. -
Valencia dies
Billy is in the hospital and Valencia dies of carbon monoxide poisoning on her way to see Billy. -
New York
Billy goes to New York city to tell people about Tralfamadore where he claims to have spent a lot of time. This is possible because of his time travels, but no one believes him. -
Time doesn't move
Billy tells the world that the Tralfamadorians believe that time does not move forward. Every individual moment in time happens at the same time as every other moment, so the past, the present, and the future are not real. Also, because the future can't be changed, humans do not have free will. Billy feels we should just sit back and accept that life is the way it is. -
Barbra Pilgrim
Billy's daughter, Barbara Pilgrim, finds out that he has been telling the world about his travels in a Tralfamadorian flying saucer.
She feels that her father has gone senile, so she threatens to put him in an old-age home along with his mother. -
Billy's Death
Billy goes to a conference in Chicago to tell people about time according to the Tralfamadorians. Billy has seen his death before, so he refuses the protection of the police. Paul Lazzaro keeps his promise and kills Billy at the conference.