Mary Pat Kelly first came upon this story while doing research about American soldiers in Ireland during World War II for a documentary on Ireland.
At the end of the film real footage is shown of the present day USS Mason featuring Bill Clinton and Tommy Hilfiger. Hilfiger's production company THEntertainment produced the film.
This was the first film ever produced for Tommy Hilfiger's THEntertainment production company.
Alfred Lind was the actual Commander of the convoy (NY 119) in which the USS Mason experienced that massive storm in mid October 1944. Commander Lind, as with most of the veterans of WWII, didn't speak of his experiences from the war. His family learned of these recommendations after Mary Pat Kelly had written her book. His real name was used in the movie, after some good timing when a grandson discovered the existence of the book, then attempted to contact Mary Pat Kelly.