Part 3 Chapter 17 Summary

Billy Prior's battalion continues to march through the devastation of dead bodies and stagnant water. Billy's fear of abandonment is rising up and overtaking him. Then, some normalcy creeps in.

At the end of one day's march, the battalion comes upon a town with green fields and seemingly normal lives. The men stop to rest in the kitchen of an old farmhouse and are entertained by the family who reside there. Prior wonders if this area had been in German hands not long before they had arrived.

During their stay, Prior runs into a local young man whom he befriends. In the small amount of time that he gets to know him, Prior realizes that the lad is German. The two men share a sexual experience together before Prior and his battalion are shipped off once again.

Prior and his battalion...