That is the promise Bill made 70 years ago. At 93 years old it is a promise he has never broken.

Backstory

Since that fateful night of September 16, 1945 and his rescue, Bill has continued to share his incredible story about true faith and survival to people around the world. Bill speaks at churches, schools, VA hospitals, VA retirement homes, Lions clubs, Rotary Clubs and to troubled teens.

I met Bill at Desert Christian High School in Lancaster, California on Veteran’s Day 2012. He was speaking to about 500 high school students and staff. From the moment I first met Bill I knew he was special. As I listened to him speak I was moved to tears. He spoke about courage, strength, determination and the will to survive through life’s toughest storms. He shared how to find faith and where our true hope can be found… In Jesus Christ.

As he spoke, I kept hearing God say to make a film about his story. I was shocked to find out that in the 70 years of Bill speaking around the country, nobody had ever documented it. So I called a few friends and we decided to give Bill a surprise. We wanted to document his story on film so we could preserve his legacy for future generations. We create a 10 minute documentary entitled “6 Days on a Raft”. You can view it here.

It was a labor of love that we funded out of our own pockets with a budget of only $3,500.00. Many people helped out with their time, skills and equipment. The high school, staff and even the students got involved. Like so many, Bill has become their adopted Grandfather and they did everything they could to help with the surprise. It was truly amazing to see so many people selflessly giving of themselves for this sweet little old man. Even people who had never been on a production before came out to support us. When the prop house History For Hire heard about Bill’s story, they donated all the vintage props we needed. It was truly a blessing to see God’s hand at work.