Along with 2,500 fellow soldiers, Claude sets sail for France on a ship called the Anchises. Many of the soldiers he meets are originally from small towns much like his own. He meets Lieutenant Bird, a soft-spoken young man originally from Virginia who was working at his uncle’s Topeka bank when he enlisted. He also meets Victor Morse, an adventurous young man who journeyed from small town Iowa to serve as a fighter pilot in the British air brigade.

Despite his humble roots, Victor has developed a British accent and presents himself as a worldly European. Claude reflects that “taken one by one, they were ordinary fellows like himself. Yet here they were. And in this massing and movement of men there was nothing mean or common; he was sure of that” (465). As Claude becomes close friends with Victor, he suspects that Victor may be exaggerating some of his exploits. He nevertheless accepts Victor at his word. Victor promises to meet Claude in London someday, show him around the city, and take him to dine at a fine, exclusive establishment.

An influenza epidemic breaks out aboard the Anchises. Many soldiers fall gravely ill, and Lieutenant Bird becomes one of the first casualties.