: Born to a military household in northern Colorado, Michael’s driving purpose in life was to be a Marine. His father, a former Marine grunt, post-Corps mercenary, and veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, had instilled in him a love of Corps and Country since before he could walk. Though only 11 years old when the North Korean dirty bombs went off, young Michael was infuriated. Nobody was surprised when he enlisted himself immediately upon graduation from high school, standing resolutely on the yellow footprints outside MCRD San Diego and battling through 13 weeks of hell to earn his Eagle, Globe, and Anchor.

Mike followed steadily in his father’s footsteps, enlisting as an infantry rifleman to assuage his desire to get hip-deep in the battle. Due to his physical prowess and drive to succeed, he was offered the opportunity to try out for Force Recon, which he readily accepted. By the time he deployed to the Korean peninsula, he was a highly trained Recon Marine, eager to take the fight to the Chinese and North Korean forces.

During a HALO insertion into Chinese / North Korean held territory, Mike suffered a compound fracture to his left leg. Unwilling (and unable) to extract, he simply splinted the wound and suffered in silence, successfully assisting in the rescue of several British and American military personnel from a secured compound in the south Chinese wilderness. Unfortunately, his wound became severely infected, and he narrowly avoided dying before the mission was complete. Unable to salvage the necrotic tissue, his leg was amputated above the knee and the decorated veteran was sent home with a handful of medals and a few pats on the back from the higherups.

Following his injury, Mike was sent back stateside to recover. Due to his amputation, he was no longer technically eligible for combat operations, but his years of outstanding service had won him many allies amongst the Marine command, and he ended up stationed with a joint Marine / Army task force at The Mountain as a security team leader. There, he was fitted with an advanced robotic prosthesis and promised a return to active operation, provided he was able to adapt to the new limb and perform at peak levels.