Destined to Live: The Incredible Story of WWII Airman Wild Bill Scanlon
By the time World War II airman William "Wild Bill" Scanlon was shot out of a B-17 and spirited to the safety of England by French Underground resistance fighters, the gutsy gunner had survived over 70 combat missions flown as a member of the air forces of three different countries.
Destined to Live tells the true story of a Chicago man who:
* Joined the United States Cavalry at age 15;
* Learned to fly fighter planes in the Canadian Royal Air Force,
* Shot down 7 confirmed Nazi fighters;
* Flew tailgunner for Britain's Royal Air Force in such famous missions as the
Thousand Bomber Raid and the Battle of the Ruhr;
* Rode as a B-17 replacement gunner in the United State's Eighth Air Force;
* Survived bullet and shrapnel wounds to the jaw, leg, hand and head as he fell
into enemy territory Feb 8, 1944;
* Escaped through the French Underground network back to England;
* And repeatedly beat the odds of combat to return home alive.
Above left: An army publicity photo of Scanlon taken shortly after he returned from the French Underground. Above right: Scanlon poses in front of a British Stirling bomber while in the RAF.
