About
I grew up in the hillsides above St. Helena in Northern Napa Valley. I spent my childhood exploring the mountains and wilderness with my family who were big into the outdoors.
From a young age, I had made a goal to become a US Navy SEAL. I joined the Navy 2002 and went through Basic Underwater Demolition school (BUDs) and SQT (SEAL Qualification Training). I spent the next 10 years at SEAL Team 5, SEAL Team 1 as well as ran Maritime operations for the SEAL Teams, other government agencies. During that time I deployed to multiple combat zones around the world including Iraq, Southeast Asia and Afghanistan. The end of 2012 I left the teams with 100% medical disability.
After the SEAL Teams, I started making blades and tools for my old team mates that were still active duty as well as friends that were big outdoorsman such as myself. That lead to creating Half Face Blades which makes custom and production knives, hatchets, chef blades, and other great tools.
For years, I wanted to get back to my roots in the Napa Valley and make wines from the grounds I grew up exploring. I waited for the right time and the right person to work with on the project. I finally connected with a friend G.W. Lussier who was also a veteran from Napa valley that had spent years as an Officer in the Army deploying overseas to some of the same areas I had. G.W. had moved back to Napa Valley, back to his roots and became a winemaker now, producing amazing wines under his label, Lussier Wines. Our love for wine, where we grew up in the Napa valley and having a combat veteran background made everything just fall right into place. Now with the best team for the venture I was able to move forward with War Paw Wines.
