I think the author chose to start the book 19 years before the main events of the story so the reader could absorb things. The author technically wanted the reader(s) to understand something before reading the real story.
Some verbs for sea/water are
Wet
Soak
Drench
Saturate
Sodden
They all mean sea or water in a way
C because it says a specific year.
This excerpt conveys:
A - the impermanence of life (Joe was going to be a great engineer but died too soon)
B - the destructiveness of the war (it took Joe too soon)
It does not include the stage managers personal opinion about education or war.
