1917: The War Begins for the US
While the war has been a reality for Anna for some time, the rest of the US wakes up to a new world as the war becomes a living reality for every family in the US on a morning in 1917:
In the Whittaker household, Josephine doesn't really get why this upsets her parents so much. After all, it's her birthday, shouldn't they be more concerned with her party? Joseph tries to explain to his little girl what this means, but somehow it doesn't really hit home. Yet, that is.
Instead, Josephine is much more interesting in what she will get, who will come to her party and what her wardrobe is going to look like as her mother takes her out to change into more adult attire. To her chagrin, Josephine's clothes fit very well for a young woman, and only her hair needs any real updating as the loose hair of a girl is no longer appropriate.
What Joseph and Abigail understands, however, that Josephine has yet to grasp, is how fundamentally this will change life for so many families that they know. It is true that in their family all the men are relatively safe from the laws of a general draft. While forced to register, none of them are likely to be picked. Joseph is too old, Nathaniel and Frank are a bit older than desired, and both have young children at home, which is taken into consideration. In addition, Frank as a politician is entirely exempt. No, they are safe, especially since all the boys in the family are too young, but that does not go for everyone else. As the rules behind the draft is revealed in the news it's clear that:
- All YA men who are not married will be drafted, unless they are erratic (medically unfit), criminals (convicted felons) or politicians or farmers (essential workers). For Willow Creek/Newcrest this means David Addington (George's brother) and Nash Sinclair.
- All married YA men who are not yet fathers might be drafted. Here I rolled a dice 1-4 gets drafted, 5-6 stays safe. For Willow Creek, it meant that Rhett Goth is off to war leaving his young wife Morgan alone and pregnant (I cannot let the Goth family die out after all, had to get her pregnant first!)
- Some YA who are fathers are sent (1-2 drafted, 3-6 gets to stay at home). George barely got out of that one with a 4, but he's safe at home with his Betty and his twins.
But how can she be sad when he looks so utterly handsome and brave? She lets him in, and it turns out Nash has come with a very specific purpose in mind. To assure himself that his girl will be waiting for him when he returns. As Josephine has dreamed about, Nash goes down on one knee:
Of course she accepts:
But now she's all confused. As Nash asks and receives her father's permission, she is heartbroken that he is being shipped out but elated that he asked her to marry him. In truth she doesn't know how to feel. And what if he doesn't survive? What will she do then?
Granted she has a better chance than her sister, only 2% of the military deaths of the entente (allied forces) were US solders compared to 25 % for French soldiers. France lost about 4,3 % of their population in the war (both military and civilian), the US only 0,13%. That of course does not mean it was risk free to go, and Josephine cannot know that Nash will return at all. At the end of the war, a dice roll will be made for all soldiers. For US-solders the odds will be in their favour (death on 1, 2-6 he will be alive). For Maurice in France the odds are less in his favour. 65% of those in the trenches were either killed or injured, so I'm splitting his odds into thirds. 1-2 he's dead, 4-6 he lives. Unless the game has time to kill either of them before. Accidental deaths is turned on for all soldiers and all people living in Europe.
But for now, Josephine is mostly happy about her engagement, her optimistic and self absorbed nature telling her that everything will be fine, and Nash will return as handsome as ever to carry her off into the sunset.
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