Sarge Steel has never spoken of his early years, preferring to keep to himself whatever events shaped his life. What is known about him begins with his service in the US Army as a member of the Special Forces.

Steel proved himself to be a smart, tough, and ruthless combat soldier. He earned promotions that brought him to the rank of Captain Sergeant by the time he was serving with the Special Forces in Vietnam during the height of the American involvement in that conflict.

Steel's work in espionage and counterespionage brought him into a deadly contest with the Communist saboteur Ivan Chong. Steel thwarted Chong's plans to sabotage the Saigon government's war efforts, and Chong was sentenced to imprisonment under the worst conditions. Chong could not take vengeance out on Steel personally, but he could, and did, send one of his henchmen to plant a booby-trapped hand grenade on the Special Forces officer. When Steel attempted to use the grenade, it exploded before he could throw it, and his left hand was blown off in the explosion.

His injuries earned Steel a medical discharge from the army, and a return to the United States. There, in a V.A. hospital, he spent several months undergoing corrective surgery and rehabilitation, and was fitted for a prosthetic device to replace his hand. Rather than settling for something utilitarian, Steel chose a replacement far better suited to his temperament: a solid steel clenched fist.

Steel's clientele were usually involved in some manner of international intrigue or terror. They lead him to face such evil as Von Wess, a wanted Nazi war criminal who attempted to blackmail the world with the nuclear warheads of Polaris missiles he had hijacked and along with a submarine.

Steel also faced such menaces as Mr. Ize, the Smiling Skull, the Lynx, The Black Lily, and Liza Monelli. A number of cases brought Steel, and often the world, to the brink of disaster before the so-called "Iron man with the fist of steel" claimed victory from what for any other man would have spelled doom. More and more, Steel found his cases bringing him into contact with members of the government's intelligence services, and he would often work with or directly for the FBI and CIA. Eventually, Sarge Steel, Private Detective, became a secret agent when he was recruited by a top secret, unnamed branch of intelligence, where he remains ensconced to this day (probably Checkmate/CBI).

Powers and Weapons: Sarge Steel is an indefatigable fighter trained to expert qualifications as a member of the Army's Special Forces. He is a balck belt in several of the martial arts, and a crack marksman with most hand weapons in use by the armies of the world. Even without the extra stopping power of his steel fist (which has ben known to stop bullets as well as flesh), Steel would be considered a finely honed, unstoppable fighting machine.

Information found in (no updates yet) in DC COMICS WHOS WHO GUIDE, VOLUME 20, October 1986