Editing William Anders (section)

== Early life ==
William Alison Anders was born in Hong Kong on 17 October 1933, the son of Arthur Ferdinand Anders (1903–2000), a [[United States Navy]] lieutenant, and his wife, Muriel A. Anders ({{nee|Adams}}; 1911–1990). The family moved from Hong Kong to [[Annapolis, Maryland]], where his father taught mathematics at the [[Naval Postgraduate School|U.S. Naval Postgraduate School]]. After Annapolis, Anders' father received orders to billet in [[Nanjing]], China. After the family moved there, the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]] erupted in 1937, followed by Japan invading China. In December of that year, his father was serving as the executive officer of the [[river gunboat]] {{USS|Panay|PR-5|6}} when he was wounded as the ship was [[USS Panay incident|attacked and sunk by Japanese bombers]]. As the Japanese began to advance toward Nanjing, Anders and his mother fled by taking a train to [[Guangzhou]].<ref name="Arthur F. Anders" /><ref name="airportjournals" />

From the porch of the Guangzhou hotel in which they stayed, they could see Japanese aircraft bombing ships on the [[Pearl River]] {{convert|200|yards}} away. This was ominous since the river was their only means of escape. In addition to the threat of Japanese aircraft, the river was [[naval mine|mined]] and there was the danger of being boarded by bandits. Foreigners were allocated special areas on the boat and separated from Chinese people by barbed wire. They eventually reached the Philippines, where they awaited news of his father. Arthur Anders was rescued by the British and sent to [[Naval Medical Center San Diego|San Diego Naval Hospital]] to recover from his wounds and a [[staphylococcal infection]]. He was awarded the [[Purple Heart]] and the [[Navy Cross]] but was discharged from the Navy owing to his wounds. He was recalled to active duty during [[World War II]].<ref name="Arthur F. Anders">{{cite news | first= Eric | last= Pace | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/31/us/arthur-f-anders-96-hero-aboard-us-gunboat-in-1937.html | title= Arthur F. Anders, 96, Hero Aboard U.S. Gunboat in 1937 | work= [[The New York Times]] | date= 31 August 2000 | access-date= 8 November 2012 | archive-date= 17 December 2014 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141217231601/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/31/us/arthur-f-anders-96-hero-aboard-us-gunboat-in-1937.html | url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="airportjournals">{{cite web |last1=Freeze |first1=Di |title=Bill Anders: A Love of Afterburners |website=Airport Journals |date=1 April 2007 |url=http://airportjournals.com/bill-anders-a-love-of-afterburners/ |access-date=15 March 2015 |archive-date=15 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415144558/http://airportjournals.com/bill-anders-a-love-of-afterburners/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The family returned to the United States, where Anders was active in the [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scouts]], achieving the organization's second-highest rank, [[Life Scout]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Astronauts With Scouting Experience |date=31 July 2019 |publisher=IEEE |url=https://r5.ieee.org/houston/astronauts-with-scouting-experience/ |access-date=7 August 2022 |archive-date=18 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818023732/https://r5.ieee.org/houston/astronauts-with-scouting-experience/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Astronauts With Scouting Experience |publisher=Boy Scouts of America |url=http://www.usscouts.org/eagle/eagleastronauts.asp |access-date=7 August 2022 |archive-date=1 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501182242/http://www.usscouts.org/eagle/eagleastronauts.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> As a teen, Anders attended St Martin's Academy and [[Grossmont High School]] in [[El Cajon, California]].{{sfn|Newland|2010|p=109}} To improve his grades so that he could be accepted at the [[United States Naval Academy]] in [[Annapolis, Maryland]], Anders was sent to the Boyden School, a military academy prep school in downtown [[San Diego]].<ref name="airportjournals" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-03 |title=Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders killed in plane crash |url=https://richmond.com/news/nation-world/apollo-8-william-anders-earthrise-plane-crash-washington/article_94e6576c-0461-5eab-b450-66d3d27a129c.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240903153211/https://richmond.com/news/nation-world/apollo-8-william-anders-earthrise-plane-crash-washington/article_94e6576c-0461-5eab-b450-66d3d27a129c.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2024-09-03 |access-date=2024-11-15 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |agency=Associated Press |date=2024-06-07 |title=Former astronaut William Anders, who took iconic Earthrise photo, killed in Washington plane crash |url=https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/06/07/nation/former-astronaut-william-anders-who-took-iconic-earthrise-photo-killed-in-washington-plane-crash/ |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=Bangor Daily News |language=en-US}}</ref> He commuted to Boyden by bus from [[La Mesa, California]]. The school lay under the flight path into [[San Diego International Airport|Lindbergh Field]] and aircraft such as the huge [[Convair B-36 Peacemaker]] would fly low over the school. He was fascinated with flight and built model aircraft. He graduated from Boyden in 1951.<ref name="airportjournals" />