Michael Phillip Stonebridge was born in Oceanside, California. Stonebridge's father was a Force Reconnaissance Marine killed during a covert mission. His mother abandoned him two years later. Stonebridge was eventually placed in a foster home in San Diego, California. He had a difficult childhood, feeling out of place with his foster family, the Redmonds. Shortly after Stonebridge graduated from high school, he married his girlfriend, Kerry Edwards. Soon afterwards, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.