Area man pursued interesting military life

By Sean Hart
Argus Observer
SeanH@argusobserver.com
Saturday, November 7, 2009 10:17 PM PST

ONTARIO — Michael Echanis, a local Vietnam War hero, has a story like something out of Hollywood.

And the background of George Clooney’s new movie bears striking similarities.

“The Men Who Stare At Goats,” a comedic film that opened Friday, took its name from the nonfiction book by Jon Ronson — the book containing the facts upon which the satiric movie is loosely based.

In the book, Ronson interviews retired U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Glenn Wheaton, who claims he was a member of a top-secret Army program that attempted to train soldiers to kill goats using only the power of their minds — and Wheaton also claims he actually saw one person perform the paranormal act: a Special Forces soldier named Michael Echanis.

The book goes on to describe how Echanis had 29 confirmed kills in two months in Vietnam before being wounded and sent back to the United States and how he later died as a mercenary in Nicaragua — without ever mentioning Echanis’ small hometown of Ontario.

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“Echanis was born Nov. 16, 1950, at Nampa and grew up in Ontario. He attended schools here, graduating from Ontario High School in 1969. He excelled in track and basketball in high school,” his obituary in the Sept. 14, 1978, Daily Argus Observer reads. “He enlisted in the service and was wounded in Vietnam where he earned the ‘Bronze Star for Valor’ in his valiant efforts to save his unit. He was a student of the martial arts and was teaching self defense to counter-insurgency Nicaraguan National Guard at the time of his death.”

Whether or not Echanis killed a goat with his mind, the true American soldier certainly earned a list of accolades in his short 27 years. According to a Sept. 11, 1978, Argus article, Echanis’ parents, Frank and Pat Echanis, Ontario, said he was “in Nicaragua training troops in guerrilla or hand-to-hand combat” at the time of his death in an aviation incident with “sketchy” details. Echanis, the article continues, was a former member of the Army Special Forces, or Green Berets.

“Echanis distinguished himself by valorous actions when the truck in which he was a passenger was ambushed. Spc. Four Echanis immediately opened fire on the enemy ... wounded in the left foot, he disregarded the pain, reloaded his weapon and continued to fire on the enemy ... he was hit in the head by fragmentation from a small arms round,” a February, 1971, Argus article detailing how Echanis earned his medal in Vietnam reads: “Still undaunted, he moved to the rear of the truck to engage the enemy. Although in pain and partially blinded by his head wound, he saw the blurred figure of an approaching NVA ... he remained exposed to the intense enemy fire and silenced the foe. He then lay down in the truck to reload his weapon and was wounded a third time. Wounded again, he continued to fight until the beleaguered truck was relieved.”

After being sent back to the United States because of his war wounds, Echanis, who was “not a very big guy” when he enlisted in the service, grew substantially, according to a childhood friend from Ontario, Ben Plaza.

“He did a lot of rehab and built himself up. His foot was pretty badly injured, but he did a lot of rehab and bulked up and really got into the martial arts,” Plaza said. “But then he got into some mystical things too — I mean like Carlos Castaneda books. He was into a lot of mystical things, a lot of mind control things. Like trying to stop a clock — I heard about it, but I never saw him try it — which I guess is in the same vein as the whole movie thing.”Although the Argus article from 1978 does not comment on mysticism or goats, it does mention Echanis “earned a black belt in Korean ‘Hwarangdo’ ” and “was a contributor to a number of military publications,” including three books on self-defense. Echanis’ mother said, in the 1978 article, she had spoken to her son the week before his death, and he told her he was concerned about the spread of communism and that people in the United States don’t realize how good they “have it.” She said he also told her he still gets tears in his eyes when he sees “the Stars and Stripes flying.” The patriotic Vietnam veteran was laid to rest in Sunset Cemetery in Ontario, Sept. 16, 1978, and insight into the Army’s alleged top-secret goat program may have been buried with him. Nevertheless, the Green Beret, martial arts master and Bronze Star recipient from Ontario certainly earned a reputation as an eccentric soldier.

“I never heard anything about goats, but ... he was very impressive and imposing in a way that was — you could tell his mind was very controlled and strong. It was all the disciplinary things that he was studying,” Plaza said. “He was imposing that way — and intimidating.”