He grew up with Arch Riker, who would be his lifelong friend, and with a love of literature. He was very smart at school, won many spelling bees and was always very fond of language and baseball. One of his English teachers was particularly influential, cultivating his ability to compose an interesting essay on any topic. When he was seventeen, his girlfriend, Joy Wheatley (she later returns in "The Cat Who Saw Red") left to "find herself" and Qwill joined the service. It is never explicitly stated which war he fought in, but it is likely that he served during Operation Torch during World War II, since several times throughout the series he uses a curse he learned while in North Africa. He came out of it with an injured knee and so could not have the career in baseball he always desired. So he went to college, participated in some acting, but found it was journalism for which he had a natural knack.