As the last chapter opens, the war has come to Devon in the form of the Parachute Riggers' School. The School occupies the Far Common, with jeeps, trucks, and sewing machines.
Gene goes with Brinker to the Butt Room, where they have a talk about military service with Mr. Hadley, Brinker's father. Mr. Hadley sneers at the soldiers learning to sew and cheerily asks Gene which branch of service he prefers. Gene explains that he is planning to join the Navy in order to avoid being drafted into the infantry, while Brinker, too, has made a careful choice, deciding on the relative safety of the Coast Guard. This disgusts Mr. Hadley, who urges them to think about how their military service will sound when they talk about it in the future. The safest choice may not be the wisest choice in the long run, he explains.
Afterward, Brinker complains of his father's hearty enthusiasm for war service, especially since the older generation will not face any risk in the war that Brinker insists they caused. Brinker's thinking reminds Gene of Finny's theory about the fake-war conspiracy of "fat old men." But for himself, Gene decides that the war arose from something "ignorant" within humanity itself.
As Gene empties his locker to leave Devon for military service, he thinks of Finny and their friendship, which still remains a vital part of his life. Later, from his adult perspective, Gene believes that his war actually ended before he ever entered military service. He sees now that he killed his "enemy" at Devon, while Finny, always unique, never saw anyone or anything as his enemy.
