Excerpt: Laws of Induction

When Wilson asked for war in April, Hartwell got good and drunk and tried to go enlist but his roomates got him a good deal drunker and he passed out before he could sign up. The next morning they made him promise to finish the term. He would graduate in June and surely the war would still be on.
His mother came down on the train to see him graduate. He took her out to dinner at the Otis Hotel in Bloomington. It had a French menu he thought would please her. She ordered a lamb shank and appeared to enjoy it, though years later she confessed it was 'not that good'. Over wine and cheeses afterward he told her his plans to enlist now that he had graduated.
“But dear, why?” she asked. “You just spent four years studying to be a journalist, not a soldier. Wouldn't you do as much for the war effort to go report it?”
“Mama, the army needs journalists, too, and photographers. Besides, suppose I go to work for a paper. There's no guarantee I'll report on the war. I'm as likely to end up writing obituaries, being the new kid. And what with the draft, I could be hauled into the army anyway and then I'd just be a foot soldier. I'd as soon sign up now and try to get a posting that suits me.”
“At least come back to Darien and join a Michigan regiment,” she begged. “I couldn't bear you dying for Indiana.”
“You don't really think that matters, do you?”
“No, of course not, but at least I'll have you home for a few weeks before you go.”