Michael Janes was a soldier in the Vietnam war. He was considered a total maniac, good at killing, and not much else. While the unit was being evacuated by helecopter, a young Vietnamese boy, a survivor ofa village that Janes had massacred, grabbed onto the helecopter’s landing gear. Paniced, Janes kicked the boy off, and he fell into the jungle, presumably to his death.
Janes was subsequently court martialed and sentenced to prison. While in prison, he searched for redemption, and became an ardent Christian, seeking to redeem himself for his sins. He became a priest after being released, and served underprivledged communities as a way to do penance. One of his parisioners was the young superhuman known as Silhouette.
However, the young boy that Janes beleived he had killed grew up to be the assassin Bengal. Bengal came to America to get revenge on the soldiers who killed his village. Bengal attacked Janes, but Silhouette and Night Thrasher protected the priest. Janes told them the whole story, which left Night Thrasher, himself an agent of justice and vengeance, unsure of if he should protect the former war criminal. Janes for his part, simply believed he would be judged by God.
Ultimately, Night Thrasher deicded to protect Janes. He and Bengal got into a brawl, and were close to killing each other when the Punisher intervened. Punisher told them not to go down the path he had. Janes begged Bengal’s forgivness, and bengal found the stength to forgive the priest, the two embracing.