with the outbreak of world war ii, palance's athletic career ended, and his military career as a member of the united states army air forces began. palance's face, which took many beatings in the boxing ring, was said to have become disfigured while bailing out of a burning b-24 liberator bomber during a training flight over southern arizona (where palance was a student pilot). his distinctive cheekbones and deep set eyes were said to have been the result of reconstructive surgery.