A Hero is Born…
On July 4th, 1920, Steven Rogers was born in Manhattan, New York. His parents, Sarah and Joseph Rogers, were Irish immigrants who came to the ‘New World’ in search of the American Dream. Despite arriving in America just in time for start of the Great Depression the Rogers Family were filled with hope and pride. They had come from a country rife with war and political terrorism, where you could be persecuted for the right beliefs as much as the wrong ones. Growing up during that time made Steve strong of heart and soul, if not of body as he was extremely frail from being malnourished.
Raised with his parents ideological views of the world and America, Steve never lacked for hope of good fortune even in the face of their financial situation. This of course meant that he was no stranger to hardship, but only first met with tragedy in the summer before his thirteenth birthday. His Father, Joseph, passed away after an altercation while hunting for work. As it turned out, Joseph had attempted to intervene in ‘shake down’ of a local shop owner only to be badly beaten himself for his troubles. While his life to this point could have lead him down a very dark path, it simply emboldened him to take a stance against those whom he saw taking advantage of others. This soon landed him square in the sights of bullies and ill pranks because he would often step in and take the beatings meant for someone else.
December 7th, 1941, was a day that would alter the course of history for many Americans. Steve Rogers was one of those people. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, like many young men across the country, he was one of the first in line to sign up to do his duty for the country. The attack had hit home with Steve on so many levels, because here was the ‘Bully’ picking on all the little guys on a very global scale. With America being the ones who interjected themselves on behalf of the picked on. Only to take a bit of a beating themselves. Though he tried over and over Steve would be rejected each and every time.
Unbeknownst to him, his efforts to enlist garnered him notice by a man known as Doctor Abraham Erskine. The Doctor was the head of special military project. He was tasked with supplementing the normal recruitment of soldiers with a rigorous vitamin regiment that would greatly enhance their natural attributes. However many believed the Doctor had unlocked the secrets to the peak of human evolution. In any case Erskin saw something different in the young Rogers and offered him a chance that would otherwise have never been his.
Steve was one of many to be recruited to Operation: Rebirth and he was the least likely to succeed. Yet somehow that drove him. He was never as fast or as strong as the other recruits, but he never gave up trying at any of the physical challenges put before him. On the other hand he showed remarkable analytical and tactical planning skills.
Despite rumors of the Doctor’s project having other failed test-subjects Steve was again first in line to volunteer. Benefiting from Erskine’s fondness of him, Steve was chosen as the first to be tested with the new formula. A mixture of enhanced hormone serum, derived from the white blood cells of a man unknown Canadian downer, and a cellular radiation bath known as ‘Vita-Rays’ devolved by Howard Stark. He was also the first success that the Project would ever have. Ironically, he would also be the last and only success of Doctor Erskine’s career.
Knowing that Doctor Erskine had kept the formula off the books, fearing rival government spies, the decision had been made by Hitler himself to kill the doctor and the entire project before he could discover success. Moments after administering the radiation supplement and serum, to Steve Rogers, a Nazi spy burst in to the laboratory with the pronouncement of ‘Hail Hitler’. The assassin was able to shoot Doctor Erskine in the head, killing him instantly, as well as several other assistants, before fleeing. A lucky shot managed to graze the controls to the radiation bath, by mere chance shutting it down before it could administer a lethal dose.
In the moments following the first shots Steve Rogers emerged a different man. His muscles toned and lean to the point of human perfection, he was able to chase down the Doctor’s murderer and avenge him by breaking the killer’s neck. Over the body of Doctor Erskine’s killer Steve vowed to never use the Doctor’s gifts for ill, to always fight for Truth, Justice and the American Way.
A World at War…
For nearly a year following the death of Doctor Erskine, Steve was deemed too valuable to be put in the field. Viewed as the only hope to salvage some of the Doctor’s process, he was kept at various secured facilities to be poked and prodded by the greatest minds the Allies could find. In time he was used by the Military’s public relations arm of the United Services Organization to sale War Bonds. This public exposure would soon garner Steve national fame and stardom. None of which he wanted.
As the War raged on without him Steve was determined to ‘do his part’ and for the time being that was aiding the ‘Boys’ by ensuring they had all the best funds. Little did he know that he was at the time building the collateral that would eventually get him in to the War where he wanted.
On his birthday, July 4th, during a press rally at the White House, Steve would meet President Theodore Roosevelt. The two men spoke privately in the Oval Office prior to going on camera, with the President having many questions for Rogers. Finding himself moved by the young man’s passion, drive and determination, as well as perhaps a little wish to fight vicariously through him, President Roosevelt set aside his planned speech to the American people. Instead he re-introduced the American people to Steve Rogers with a passionate speech about American ideals and the threats from abroad that sought to end them. He presented Steve with; the name “Captain America, a side-arm and a vibranium alloy version of the shield that Steve had used as a prop in his U.S.O. rallies.