What does the irony in these excerpts from “In Another Country” by Ernest Hemingway convey?

The doctor came up to the machine where I was sitting and said: "What did you like best to do before the war? Did you practice a sport?"

I said: "Yes, football."

"Good," he said. "You will be able to play football again better than ever."

My knee did not bend and the leg dropped straight from the knee to the ankle without a calf, and the machine was to bend the knee and make it move as riding a tricycle.

. . . In the next machine was a major who had a little hand like a baby's. He winked at me when the doctor examined his hand, which was between two leather straps that bounced up and down and flapped the stiff fingers, and said: "And will I too play football, captain-doctor?" He had been a very great fencer, and before the war the greatest fencer in Italy.

A.
The doctor, who is supposed to be sympathetic and helpful to his patients, does not really understand their suffering.
B.
Modern technology aided war efforts by providing horrific weapons, but it couldn’t help the soldiers.
C.
The war is ruthless and took away the things most important to the identity and happiness of both men.
D.
Despite facing the horrors of war, the soldiers are still able to keep a sense of humor.

Irony is when an expression means another thing, though, at times, it is used more for humor and empathy. In simple words, irony is the use of language to mean something quite the opposite.

In the given excerpt from Ernest Hemingway's In Another Country, the doctor's question of what they liked to do best before their handicapped condition helped the men remember what they liked. They did not like the war and no one wants to be handicapped 'intentionally'. So, it is ironic that the war took away the very thing they liked doing the most. And that source of happiness and identity was easily taken away from them by the war.

Thus, the correct answer is option C.