Mike Echanis was born on November 16, 1950, in Nampa, Idaho, and grew up in Ontario, Oregon. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on May 12, 1969, and completed basic training at Fort Ord, California, in July 1969. Private Echanis then attended Advanced Individual Training as an Infantry Direct Fire Crewman at Fort Gordon, Georgia, from July to September 1969, followed by basic airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia, from September to October 1969. He next attended Phase 1 of Special Forces Qualification Course at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, from October 1969 to January 1970, and then deployed to South Vietnam, where he served as a Scout Observer with Company C of the 75th Infantry Regiment (Ranger) from March 1970 until he was badly wounded and medevaced out of South Vietnam in May 1970. After recuperating from his injuries at Letterman Army Medical Center in the Presidio of San Francisco, California, SP4 Echanis received an honorable discharge from the Army on December 18, 1970. After leaving the Army, Mike trained as a boxer and in martial arts, and was the martial arts editor for Soldier of Fortune Magazine from 1974 to 1976. Around this time he also served as a hand-to-hand combat instructor for the John F. Kennedy Center for Military Assistance at Fort Bragg, and as a hand-to-hand combat instructor for SEAL Team TWO at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia. He later served with President Anastasio Somoza DeBayle's government in Nicaragua as an intelligence operative before being killed in an aircraft accident on September 8, 1978. Mike Echanis was buried at the Sunset Cemetery in Ontario, Oregon.

Soldier's Creed:

I am an American Soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.