Cameron "Buck" Williams

Buck Williams in Tribulation Force

Cameron "Buck" Williams is a fictional character in the "Left Behind series" of novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. In the novels, Buck is a celebrated news reporter who, after being left behind following the Rapture, becomes one of the founding members of the Tribulation Force.

Character overview

Pre-Rapture

Buck was born 30 YBR in Tucson, AZ. Highly intelligent and eager to escape his rural, uneducated roots, he attends Princeton University. Due to his exceptional journalism skills, he is employed by the "Boston Globe" while still in college. He is eventually hired by "Global Weekly", a prestigious weekly news magazine and his dream job. Williams is promoted to senior writer at 29, the youngest in the magazine's history. During this time, Buck is perceived as a daring young journalist, always willing to rush into danger for a good story, and he acquires his nickname from his willingness to "buck" journalistic traditions.

Approximately fourteen months before the Rapture, he was on assignment in Israel, interviewing Israeli botanist Chaim Rosenzweig, creator of the "Eden" formula. During the interview, a multinational air strike force advances on Jerusalem, but before either side can fire a shot, the attacking jets explode in mid-air, while Buck watches from an Israeli military compound. Upon returning to the United States, dumbstruck, he meets with the Global Weekly Chicago bureau chief, Lucinda Washington, who attempts to persuade him that the attack fulfilled prophecies made in the book of Ezekiel from the Bible. While Buck agrees that only divine intervention could have destroyed the attacking force in the way he saw, he does not yet dare to seek a personal relationship with God.

Post-Rapture

On the night of the Rapture, Buck is on an overnight flight to London Heathrow piloted by captain Rayford Steele when dozens of passengers disappear without a trace. After returning to Chicago, he searches for the truth behind the disappearances, both as a journalist and for his own sake. He eventually meets with Steele, who by this point has become a born-again Christian, merely looking for the "Christian angle" to the story, but comes away profoundly affected. Also at this time, Buck meets and begins flirting with Chloe, Rayford Steele's daughter.

Through Steele, Buck also meets pastor Bruce Barnes of the New Hope Village Church, who outlines for him more Biblical prophecies showing that the next years will make up the Tribulation and that an Antichrist will arise. Though full of questions, Buck remains unconvinced and does not fully commit his life to Christ until an encounter with the new head of the United Nations, Nicolae Carpathia. Though he had previously met Carpathia and was impressed, at this occasion Buck is overwhelmed by Carpathia's sense of evil, prays to God and becomes a born-again Christian. Following this, he joins the Steeles and Bruce Barnes in the newly-formed Tribulation Force, a group designed to survive the next seven years and counter the actions of the Antichrist (Carpathia).

Toward the end of the eighteen-month time of peace at the beginning of the Tribulation, Buck and Chloe marry. They eventually have a son, Kenny Bruce.

After Carpathia purchases every major media outlet on the planet, he offers Buck the position of publisher of "Global Weekly", which has been renamed "Global Community Weekly". Buck accepts, but eventually must flee because of his faith. He then publishes an Internet-based underground magazine, "The Truth".

He is with Tsion Ben-Judah fighting in the Old City of Jerusalem when Tsion falls during battle on the last day of the Tribulation. Buck himself is killed defending Jerusalem from the GC One World Unity Army less than twenty-four hours before Christ's Glorious Appearing, after which he is resurrected.

During the Millennial Kingdom, he and Chloe open up a child care center called Children of the Tribulation, dedicated to sharing the gospel with young children before they turn one hundred years old. On the last day of the Millennium, the Trib Force gathers at his estate to watch the final battle of the ages, after which he and the rest of the believers are welcomed into heaven.

In Other Media

* In the films, Buck is portrayed by actor Kirk Cameron.
* "Left Behind" author Jerry B. Jenkins has said that Buck is the series character he identifies with most, due to Jenkins' own background as a journalist.