Bill McWilliams was born in Brownsville, TX, raised in small towns in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado and received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, from the third congressional district of Colorado. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, and earned a Master of Science degree in Business Administration from The George Washington University while attending the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, AL. He later attended the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, PA, where he completed ten months of senior management training.
His writing includes two prior major Korean War histories, A Return to Glory: The Untold Story of Honor, Dishonor, and Triumph at the United States Military Academy, 1950-53; and On Hallowed Ground, The Last Battle for Pork Chop Hill, the latter published in hardback and trade paperback; plus numerous articles, including two-part and five-part series in newspapers and magazines. An ESPN made-for-television movie, "Code Breakers," premiered in December 2005 and subsequently released on CD in July 2006, was based on his first book.