Michael Echanis - Military Service

Military Service

Echanis attended basic training at Fort Ord, California and went on to Airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia. In 1970 he was sent to Vietnam as part of an Army Ranger unit.

Echanis received the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), Purple Heart and Bronze Star with "V" device for his heroic actions during a company size NVA ambush in which he is credited with saving the lives of six of his comrades. Although severely wounded to include a head wound SP4 Echanis was the only Ranger capable of fighting back until help arrived in the form of U.S. helicopters. The closing paragraph of the Army's award narrative states:

"Spec 4 Echanis' aggressive spirit and undaunted courage were decisive in preventing the anhilation (sic) of the truck and its personnel. His actions, at the risk of his own life, were in the highest traditions of the military and reflect upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army."

Those wounded in the ambush with Echanis were SSG Eddie L Roberts, Alfred L Carr, Robert W Ladeaux, Mark E Laughton (Company C, 75th Rangers). For SSG Lewis it was his second Purple Heart. Echanis' head wound would partially blind him during the ambush due to blood running from his forehead into both of his eyes. He would offer afterward to his family that the enemy was close enough for him to reach out and touch when the helicopters arrived to rescue the men.

Echanis had served roughly 3 weeks "in-country" in Vietnam before being seriously wounded in the head, left foot, ankle and calf when the truck he was in was ambushed in the An Khe pass on May 6, 1970. During the intense firefight which the enemy opened with small arms and B-40 rocket fire, Echanis is described in his Bronze Star award narrative as being wounded four separate times. He is formally credited with killing at least one enemy soldier with his rifle at close range and while fully exposed to incoming enemy fire. Again, from the Army's narrative, "He was then wounded for a fourth time when he (sic) continued resistance then drew a hail of enemy fire".

His service in the Army was a total of 15 months. He was evacuated stateside to the military hospital in San Francisco where he made a his recovery. Encouraged and supported by his best friend Chuck Sanders the wounded soldier rehabilitated himself to the degree he could not only walk but run again. His doctors had offered neither would ever be possible due to significant nerve damage to his left lower leg. Echanis' cousin, Michael L Echanis, recalls the wounded veteran offered his injured leg was numb from the knee down. To prove his doctors wrong Echanis went to the nearby track one day and had Sanders "kidnap" the physician and bring him to where Echanis was. According to Randy Wanner, Echanis' assigned Hwa Rang Do instructor afterward, Echanis ran around the track much to the amazement of the doctor. Still, his wounding was so severe that Echanis, again stated by Wanner, was in a state of chronic pain and would wear soft tennis shoe like footwear to help ease the discomfort. He also used an insert in his left shoe to increase his stability and balance.

Echanis' military record shows during his short military career he did not attend/graduate Ranger School and although he participated in Phase One of the Special Forces Qualification Course he did not, for reasons unstated in the record, progress further than this.

Echanis did not have any combat experience post-Vietnam and prior to his contractor service in Nicaragua. His rank at the time of his wounding was as a Specialist 4th Class although his headstone at Ontario's Sunset Cemetery offers he was a Private First Class. His Bronze Star with "V" Device narrative, as published in 1971 by his hometown newspaper, correctly states Echanis was a Specialist 4th Class when wounded.. His DD214 (Discharge document) shows a disciplinary action while he was recovering at Letterman Army Hospital that resulted in his being demoted one rank, or to Private First Class.