Steve Christian was born in Buffalo, New York in 1940, and grew up in his hometown of Frewsburg, New York. After high school, he went to John Carroll University, where he participated in the ROTC program. Because he was required to spend two years in a combat arm, he attended the Armor Officers Basic Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky and was then assigned to a tank battalion in Germany for 18 months. He then joined a truck battalion and later became a company commander. As a captain, Christian deployed to Vietnam in 1967, where he commanded the 133d Transportation Detachment, 507th Transportation Group at the District Traffic Office in Qui Nhon, handling primarily port operations. In 1970, Captain Christian returned to Vietnam, this time assigned to U.S. Army Support Command, Da Nang, where he supported Operation DEWEY CANYON II, providing a small support role to ARVN Operation Lam Son 719 in Laos, recalling that “one of the biggest problems that we had was the operation was so secret that there were … only like two or three people [at headquarters] that knew what was going on, had the big picture. We were all scrambling but we didn't know why.” Christian describes his impressions of the Koreans, MARS communications, a rocket attack, R&R in Hawaii, and his not unpleasant return home.