Born in 1948, Mike grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, the oldest of five boys.

His parents, Don and Jean Walling, both served in WWII. Don, a Meteorologist, was assigned to 9th Air Force tactical squadrons in Europe, while Jean was a WAVE officer in Boston.

After graduating from Montclair State College with a BA in Biology, Mike served in the U.S. Coast Guard for six years as a commissioned officer and a senior petty officer.

His assignments included buoy tending, search and rescue missions, drug law enforcement, and oceanographic operations in the Arctic. As part of the Boarding Party and Prize Crew teams on two cutters, he participated in the seizures of a Panamanian drug-runner and a Cuban fishing boat. His decorations include the U.S. Coast Guard Achievement Medal (O) for counter-drug operations, the Arctic Service Medal, the Sea Service Medal, the National Defense Medal, and the U.S.C.G. Cutterman's insignia.

In June 2004, Mike's first book, Bloodstained Sea: The U.S. Coast Guard in the Battle of the Atlantic 1941-1944, was published by International Marine, a division of McGraw-Hill, and received critical acclaim by reviewers and veterans. The Naval Order of the United States honored him with its 2005 Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature.

On the lighter side, he published, in conjunction with Flat Hammock Press, a new edition of Sinbad of the Coast Guard, the adventurous, true story of the USCGC Campbell's mascot whose exploits during World War II became legend. Appropriately, Sinbad's story was told by a fellow member of the Coast Guard, Chief George F. Foley, Jr., while the fine pictures were drawn by the outstanding Coast Guard Reserve artist, George Gray.

Mike appeared on the History Channel series Man, Moment, Machine episode about Andrew Higgins, the designer and builder of the vital landing craft used in World War II, and, as a script consultant for the episode, reviewed the material for accuracy.

Along with his writing, Mike is a Consulting Historian to Underwater Admiralty Sciences, Inc., Kirkland, Washington, working with them as they attempt to salvage the Bermuda Sky Queen, a Boeing 314 flying boat that was forced to ditch in the North Atlantic on October 17, 1947.

Concurrently, he is one of the contributing authors on The Coast Guard Channel and is working with Tam Communications on documentaries about the Coast Guard in World War II and the Bermuda Sky Queen rescue.

Mike has spent more than 45 years collecting stories from veterans from World War II, Korea, Viet Nam, and Iraq as well as those of pilots, merchant seaman, civilian personnel with NATO and EUFOR in the Balkans. His research has included visits to London, England; Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Baska Voda, Croatia; Halifax, Nova Scotia; and New Orleans.

He and his wife, Mary, live in Hudson, Massachusetts.

That's the official biography of Mike Walling. But if you want to hear the story of his life in his own words, click here!