Michael Gaffer

1st Sergeant Michael Gaffer, born in Bembridge, England on May 30th, 2487 is a side character of Red Letter Days who is one of PFC. Leonard Schaeffer's main detractors in Red Letter Days: Volume One on Second Base, he rudely welcomes Schaeffer to the platoon.

Early History
Gaffer was born in Bembridge, England to a moderately wealthy family of seven. His four brothers and him constantly fought and conflict was a regular occurrence between them. From an early age, Gaffer loved sports though his grades normally sagged, despite this he ended up going to college on a football scholarship.

Although he was a star player on the team, Gaffer despised the academic portion of his college career but had no wish to disappoint his family or give his brothers reason to insult him. When a marine corps recruiter told him he could escape into the military, still earning the adoration of his family without the disgrace of having to simply leave college, he gladly accepted.

His military career was somewhere between his academic and his athletic one. Gaffer despised be shoved around by everyone else in the military, but his physical condition and the fact he was used to being messed with by his brothers helped him persevere through bootcamp and into the marines.

Operation: TREBUCHET
After joining the military, Gaffer served as best he could, doing as he was told. He served on Reach initially, but after a year he was moved out to the rebellious planet of Elder VI, there he saw his first combat. Gaffer's squad was pinned down by heavy machine gun fire and ended up being split from the platoon. When communications failed due to horrible weather, the squad was effectively cut off.

Gaffer was one of twelve men to survive the event and after five weeks, they successfully managed to link back with marine forces in the area. The squad had begun to eat animals and bark, and some reports indicate cannibalism was considered and possibly even occurred, though Gaffer steadfastly denies the accusations.

Gaffer was promoted to corporal for his service and was given a bronze star shortly after. Five months afterwards, Gaffer and his fireteam were ambushed on patrol. Two of his men were killed and Gaffer was wounded in the leg. He was soon taken prisoner by insurgents, along with the surviving member of the team.

The insurgents executed his team member in front of him, broadcasting the event on all UNSC channels. Gaffer was dragged around by the insurgents, planet to planet, constant interrogation after another for three years until he was finally saved by a UNSC special forces team.

Gaffer was diagnosed with severe PTSD, and only managed to break off it several years later, when he was promoted to sergeant and moved to Second Base.