The Long Road Home

About the Book

Based upon a true story, The Long Road Home tells the tale of a young man who yearns to join the military and fight the enemy during World War II. Sixteen-year-old Bill knows that he wanted to join the army, but he discovers that he must be eighteen to enlist. Caught up in the emotions of the world at war, he decides to hitchhike to Canada to join the Royal Canadian Air Force, where the minimum age is just sixteen. He sets out from Gainesville, Florida, to hitchhike to Canada. Along the way, he experiences exciting adventures when he seeks employment to pay for his travels. He finds jobs as an orange picker and a lumberjack. He works on a fishing boat, in a circus, and on a farm as he learns to be a man and to take responsible for himself. But when a terrible accident befalls him, it threatens to end his journey and his dream of joining the RCAF. In order to survive, he must find a new maturity within to continue his journey to manhood.

About the Author

Harry Saunders grew up in New Jersey and served in the US Navy during World War II. After the war, he attended college, but was recalled by the Navy Reserve during the Korean War, during which he began to write about his adventures in the military service. His work has previously been published in institutional magazines and in technical manuals for the government. Now retired, he lives in Florida.