Michael Alfred Warnke (born November 19, 1946) is an American Christian evangelist and comedian who was exposed in 1992 for inventing stories of his past as a Satanist. Before being debunked by the Christian magazine Cornerstone, he was viewed as an "expert" on Satanism in the 1980s. Early life Mike Warnke was born in 1946 to parents Alfred "Al" Warnke and Louise Warnke of Evansville, Indiana. When he was five years old, the Warnke family moved to Manchester, Tennessee, where his father opened a truck stop. In 1955, Warnke's mother was killed in a car accident. In 1958 his father died, leaving Warnke an orphan. After the death of his father, Warnke was taken to live with two of his aunts in Sparta, and from there to Mike's half-sister and her husband in San Bernardino, California. In June 1965, he graduated from Rim of the World High School in Lake Arrowhead. That September, Warnke enrolled at San Bernardino Valley College but withdrew after one semester, whereupon by his account, he began his tenure as a Satanist. On June 2, 1966, Warnke enlisted in the United States Navy. After graduating from boot camp on August 22, 1966, his assigned military occupational specialty was as a hospital corpsman. According to the account of his life in The Satan Seller, Warnke converted to Christianity during boot camp. However, high-school acquaintance Charlotte Tweeten has stated she recalls Warnke proclaiming faith in Christ in the year prior to his navy enlistment in 1966. He also wrote that he began dating fellow Rim of the World High School alumna, Sue Studer, during this time period. This has been disproven, however, and Warnke was actually engaged to Lois Eckenrod at this time. In 1967, he completed naval corpsman training, returned to San Diego, and married Studer. Together, they had two children. In 1969, Warnke was deployed to Vietnam for a six-month tour of duty. Having been wounded in battle during those six months, he was awarded the Purple Heart. Warnke's own written accounts differ on the number of times he sustained injuries during his time in Vietnam. In The Satan Seller, Warnke says he was wounded twice, while in his second book, Hitchhiking on Hope Street, he states he was wounded five times. Despite these wounds received during his tour of duty as a hospital corpsman, second class, Warnke's various accounts have him spending much time detained,