Bill Wright was born and raised in Hawaii, in a small sugar plantation town called Kekaha, the hot, dry side of Kaua’i. Entered as a boarding student at the Kamehameha School for Boys in August 1940, Bill graduated six years later and decided that working on a tugboat operating between Honolulu and the Pacific Northwest was more exciting than joining the army as a replacement for armed forces personnel released from duty following World War II. His last seafaring days started in Honolulu early May 1948, ending in Seattle twenty-nine days later. Infatuated with the green forests of Washington, its magnificent snowcapped Mount Rainier, and the warm, sunny days of late spring and summer, Bill decided to register as a student at the University of Washington, but not for long; no one told him about the nine months of constant drizzle that followed those beautiful summer months.

At the outbreak of the Korean War, Bill volunteered for active service, spending his entire tour of duty at Fort Ord, California.