Fictional Character Biography
When asked his name and rank in Colorado Kill Zone, he replied, "Bolan, Mack Samuel, Master Sergeant." Bolan was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, of Welsh-Polish heritage, eldest of the three children of steelworker Samuel Bolan and his wife, Elsa. Bolan enlisted in the Army at age 18 and served two tours of duty in Vietnam as a Green Beret, even though newer novels don't make any reference to this as it makes him seem too old.
Bolan became an expert sniper with over ninety kills to his record, earning him the nickname The Executioner. For all his lethal capability, Bolan was deeply compassionate, becoming known as Sgt. Mercy because of the aid he often gave to Vietnamese civilians and those who needed help.
During his service in the Vietnam war, Bolan became highly adept at penetration and intelligence gathering, guerilla warfare, marksmanship and munitions. He also became a skilled armorer.
During Bolan's second tour, his father suffered a heart attack that forced him to leave his job at the steel mill. Unable to work, with bills piling up, he was forced to borrow money from Triangle Industrial Finance, a savings-and-loan outfit known around town as a loansharking operation controlled by the family of Don Sergio Frenchi, the godfather of the Mafia in western Massachusetts. The people at TIF caused the elder Bolan countless problems with their payment demands ... on one occasion, their enforcers dislocated his arm as punishment for missing one loan payment, warning him that the same arm would be broken if he missed another.
His daughter, Cindy Bolan, was worried about her father's safety and had secretly paid the officers at TIF a visit in order to persuade them to leave her father alone and allow her to repay the loan. In her first attempt, she turned in $35 a week, money she made from an after school job. When it was not enough, they "suggested" she become a prostitute.
Johnny Bolan, Mack's younger brother, learned about it from a schoolmate who taunted him about it, resulting in a fight that Johnny lost. When he found Cindy servicing a client in a motel room, he blew the whistle to his father ... an act that resulted in the elder Bolan striking him. When she was confronted by her father, she admitted to her work, expressing her fear for his health and welfare.
For Sam Bolan, it was too much. He snapped and turned a Smith & Wesson .45 on his family and then himself. Johnny Bolan was the only survivor of the murder-suicide.
A few days later, Bolan was notified of the tragedy by an Army chaplain and took emergency leave to visit his brother. After Johnny told him the whole story, Bolan broke into a sportsman's shop and took a high-powered Marlin .444, a deluxe scope, some targets and several boxes of ammunition, leaving an envelope of money to cover the "purchase". He would use the rifle to kill the TIF loansharks. This would be the beginning of his war against the Mafia.
As well as being in two nuclear explosions, Mack has been knifed numerous times and shot several times in various parts of his body, most recently in his left shoulder. He has been in numerous grenade explosions and several warehouse roofs have come down on his head.
His philosophy is simple: "If you care enough for something, you have to be willing to kill for it." When asked how he dealt with the horrors of his war against the Mafia, he said, "I stay angry."
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