A biker from Colorado has fought so hard against ISIS that they’ve felt the need to put a price on his head. His enemies know him only as “the Necromancer,” an American volunteer to the "Peshmerga," the Kurdish force which leads the fight against Islamic extremists.
The Necromancer, who called himself Mickey during an interview with the Daily Beast, is an interesting character, as he is very unique as defined by his personal history. Though there have been more and more reports of American volunteers fighting alongside Kurdish forces, a good number of them haven’t seen combat. They serve a more symbolic role and are kept far from the frontlines. But not the Necromancer, he saw combat when he fought in the military. Not just any military either, Mickey is a former soldier of the French Foreign Legion. From there he joined a “wannabe” outlaw biker gang from Holland and after deciding that he liked neither their politics nor their goals, he left them and joined the Peshmerga.
“Look, we all have a past and I’m no different. I’m human. My criminal record back home has been cleared and I’ve served my time. I’m not perfect, I’ve done some bad things, but I’ve also done good things in my life. I’m here for the people, nobody else. I’m here for all of those who want to live a peaceful life that has been deprived to them by ISIS. I don’t care about politics or religion. That’s not what I’m here for.”
Mickey has become an especially valued member of the Peshmerga, even attaining the rank of Sergeant Major. According to his commanding officer, General Tariq, he is called “Sak bab” which is usually used as an insult as it translates to “son of dog.” But Tariq uses it to honor Mickey saying, “We call him that because of ferocity and determination on the battlefield. He doesn’t give up, he pushes hard and sets an example.”
In the interview with the Daily Beast, Mickey shares a war story with them. During a Kurdish offensive south of Kirkuk, Iraq, ISIS was pushing towards his position. He was running out of ammo, though he used it to suppress ISIS so a group of Peshmerga could fall back from their pinned position. When he started to fall back himself, he saw a Peshmerga officer on the ground - he had been shot in the face.
Mickey refused to leave him there, he began dragging him behind as bullets were flying all around him. He heard ISIS closing in on his position so he began throwing grenades, which he said were of an inferior Russian design, and was able to get them to hunker down for a few moments while he dragged the officer into a ditch. It was then that Mickey knew that the officer wasn't going to make it. He could barely move as rounds were whizzing over his head and slapping against the wall behind him. Trying to throw the officer over said wall would only serve to endanger the officer to more wounds.
Mickey tried to think of a way to get both of them out, but the officer expired before any plan could come to fruition. Mickey then took it upon himself to take the officers wallet and ID, so that ISIS couldn't identify him, and tried to hide the body in the brush and weeds. He then decided to make the crawl to safety, eventually escaping the impending danger.
He would return to the battle site later that night to recover the body of the deceased comrade. “I was lucky enough to get out of there,” Mickey said. “You don’t leave a man behind. These men are my brothers. I am Peshmerga.”