Lt. Commander Bill Goss, USN (Ret) is an internationally
known speaker and author. Enlisting in 1974,
Bill worked on underwater weapons in Europe
for the U.S. Navy until he was discharged
as a Mineman Second Class in 1977. A former New Jersey Golden Glove boxer, Bill was also the light-heavy weight boxing champion at the U.S. Naval Air Stations in Pensacola, Corpus Christi, and Jacksonville. After his enlisted tour of duty, Bill attended
Rutgers University on the GI Bill and earned
an MBA from the Southern New Hampshire University. Bill graduated Aviation Officer
Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida, and
earned his Navy Wings of Gold the following
year in Corpus Christi, Texas.
As a P-3
Orion pilot, Bill flew missions against
Soviet submarines in the North and South Atlantic
and Mediterranean and deployed to a very wide
variety of sites around the world. He became
an instructor pilot in the T-44 Pegasus and
then the Assistant Navigator of the nuclear
aircraft carrier, USS Carl Vinson, deploying
throughout the Pacific from the Vinson's homeport
in the San Francisco Bay area. Bill and his
family returned to the east coast where he
flew P-3 Orions and a variety of other aircraft
while working for the admiral at NAS Jacksonville.
While there, Bill was diagnosed with a rare
form of cancer called amelanotic malignant
melanoma, had surgery, and retired from the
Navy. Bill is the author of The Luckiest
Unlucky Man Alive: A Wild Ride Overcoming
Life's Greatest Challenges -- And How You
Can Too. His second book, published by
Simon and Schuster's newest hardcover imprint,
Atria Books, is titled There's a Flying
Squirrel in My Coffee: Overcoming Cancer With
the Help of My Pet.
Bill is a contributing writer to many other
books including the New York Times bestseller,
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul. Bill's life story has been featured on national
and international radio shows, and in publications
such as the Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles
Times, New Jersey Star Ledger, The Dallas
Morning News, The St. Petersburg Times,
and Maxim Magazine.
A motivational and inspirational speaker,
Bill is featured every month on the Discovery
Channel's Animal Planet. Bill's mailing address
is:
Bill Goss International
P.O. Box 7060
Orange Park, FL 32073
People who know me sometimes ask me about my special friendship with Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, a man who I consider, besides myself, to be one of the luckiest men alive.
Rudy and Bill at Rudy's home in Nevada
And I'll bet that, even though you might not be immediately familiar
with his given name, you're probably very familiar with both his nickname
and his story. Why? Because Rudy was that short little dyslexic kid
who graduated with a rank of second in his high school class (second
from the bottom). Yet this boy had an unstoppable dream of playing
football for the University of Notre Dame, a school considered by
many to have one of the top academic and football programs in the
country. Rudy's remarkable accomplishment of his huge dream inspired
the blockbuster feature film "Rudy," an entertaining and
inspiring movie classic recently nominated by ESPN as one of the top
sports stories of all time.
Rudy and I have both written books and we both sometimes give motivational and inspirational talks around the country. And that is exactly how we became friends over 10 years ago. In fact, while we were in Indianapolis together, Rudy personally introduced me to Christopher Reeve, the most amazing person I've ever met in regards to overcoming adversity and just never giving up.
Recently I called the real Rudy (I also know actor Sean Astin, who
starred as Rudy in the film adaptation, and played Sam in the three
LORD OF THE RINGS movies), who offered to set the record straight
regarding some points in the movie that some people have wondered
about. It's important to note that when a screenwriter turns your
life story into a 90-minute movie, the story is going to get changed
and abbreviated. That's Hollywood for you.
So here is some information that was left out of the movie that may be of interest to you.
First, Rudy was one of 14 children, yet in the movie he was depicted
as having half that number of siblings to contend with. Why? Well,
it saved the film's producers an additional seven actors' salaries.
Second, after high school, Rudy enlisted in the U.S. Navy around the
same time I did, and he proudly served his country as a Sailor aboard
two ships, the destroyer USS Robert L. Wilson (DD 847) and the communication
and command cruiser USS North Hampton (CC 1) in the Mediterranean.
After he was honorably discharged, he went back to a civilian job
and applied for acceptance into Notre Dame. He was rejected over and
over again, so he attended Holy Cross Junior College before finally
being accepted to Notre Dame. In the movie, you might remember seeing
actor Sean Astin carrying a green Navy sea bag around with him everywhere
he went. . .that was the screenwriter's attempt at sharing Rudy's
U.S. Navy background, which unfortunately would have significantly
complicated the movie's plot if it had been included.
And third, yes, Rudy really did get put in for only one play in one varsity game, and yes, he did make sack the quarterback and was carried off the field by his fellow teammates, truly great college athletes who were inspired by Rudy's incredible determination to stick with his plan -- a plan that ultimately led to a great personal and professional victory.
Bill, Rudy and Admiral Jack Prendergast at Notre Dame football game
Rudy is now a multi-millionaire motivational speaker who continues
to inspire people across America every day with this simple message:
if you want to live your dreams, you must create a simple plan and
have the courage to stick with it, whether it comes to sports, education,
aspects of your personal and professional life, or just about anything
else. If you do this, you will always ultimately be successful.
Rudy summed up our phone conversation with this:
"Bill, tell your readers at Military.com, that despite the greatest
struggles and obstacles they may face, that if you have a dream, and
you plan and work hard enough at it, you will be victorious. And tell
them this too, Bill -- that nothing, absolutely nothing, ever served
me better, then me serving my country. It is something I am incredibly
proud of, and it's something that every person who is presently serving
-- or who has ever served -- our great country should be most proud.
Why? Because we Americans enjoy our great individual freedoms only
through the hardships and ultimate sacrifices of those young American
men and women who volunteered to fulfill an oath to faithfully serve
and protect all Americans. So to all U.S. service men and women everywhere
-- God bless America and especially God bless all of you serving overseas
and in harm's way. . .you're the greatest Americans of all!"
