Billy Pilgrim is a fictional character and protagonist of Kurt Vonnegut's 1969 novel Slaughterhouse-Five, who has appeared in adaptations of the novel for film and the stage. Billy Pilgrim was based on Vonnegut's comrade-in-arms Edward R. Crone, Jr. Billy Pilgrim was born in Ilium, New York on the Fourth of July of 1922. After Billy graduated from high school, he enrolled in the Ilium School of Optometry. He is tall at 6 feet 3 inches, but weak and skinny at around 140 pounds. He is also friendly and kind toward others, even when others are rude or accusatory towards him. Billy also tries to pass on wise advice or information that he has learned from the Tralfamadorians. In 1943, 21-year-old Billy Pilgrim was drafted into the Army. He served as a chaplain's assistant in Virginia, and was serving on the front-lines in Germany by 1944. At the Battle of the Bulge, Billy is taken prisoner along with a fellow soldier Roland Weary. At this moment, Billy becomes "unstuck in time", and he re-. …