Mike was born on September 3, 1943 in New Orleans, LA, and was given the nickname of an old railroad engineer, uncle/friend of his Father, and since that day he’s been called “Mike”. 

The paternal name of Warren, was changed during the late 1600’s in England from the name of Warne, <wear`n> which may be a Cornish word meaning swamp, alder tree or a region near Devonshire, and the mistake was made once again spelling it Waren; a French name meaning keeper of a game preserve. Somewhere down the line, his Warne ancestor had his name changed and eventually spelled with two R’s = Warren, simply because there were certain spellings like that in England. He’s not definite about his true ancestry, but it certainly has English, French, Scotch and Irish ties, with the Lawson name bringing up his maternal parentage of Scotch, Irish and English.  

His parents moved back to Knoxville, Tennessee (their hometown) in 1947 after the war was over, and his father lost his job with the railroad. He served his country during WWII as a railroad switchman, because they needed him there when the war broke out, far more than they needed him in the Army. They relocated to Miami, Florida in 1956. 

He became a bit of a “Hood” in the late 50’s, starting work at 14 to help out the family. His studies at school suffered and after flunking several grade levels, he dropped out of school in the 9th grade at the ripe old age of 16.  

Warren joined the Navy shortly after his 17^th birthday in 1960, but couldn’t go straight to boot camp (Co #25) in San Diego, CA because of the upcoming Christmas holidays, until January 10, 1961. He then served in Long Beach, CA (actually grew up) on the USS Fortify MSO-446, and then transferred to the USS Lucid MSO-458 until August 1964. With some unused leave and a few savings, he took $1368, a beat up 1960 Pontiac convertible and headed back home to Miami, Florida, to make his way in the world. During his time in the Navy, Mike was an E5 Petty Officer (EN2) and received his Honorable Discharge, January 9, 1967. 

Fast-forward through three marriages, a professional life as a construction equipment salesman traveling the world until 1987, along with several other business ventures afterwards, settling in San Antonio, Texas. Mike was part owner in a garage, owned some taxicabs, and a bar called Mike's.  

Cancer came into his life in 1998, and he spent most of his time through late 1999, keeping one step ahead of the Grim Reaper, while locating more information about his old ships. This required research into the Atomic Tests he participated in during Operation Dominic in the Pacific with JTF-8 in 1962, and the two visits (off shore and in-country) to Vietnam, prior to “Market Time” to see if something related to that service might have contributed directly to his cancer and health problems.  

He started researching the Internet minesweeping chat groups and websites in late 1999, and communicating with other MSO/Minesweeping men, believing that something might really get accomplished in regards to saving an MSO for a minesweeping museum. 

Warren belongs to several veterans groups, including the American Legion and VFW as a life member, along with various minesweeping organizations; the Naval Minewarfare Association, and the Navy MSO Association that he Co-Founded and served both as President and Vice President. He also founded the Save an MSO Foundation in 2001, specifically to save a ship for a future minesweeping museum. 

In September 2005, he purchased seven acres of land from Charlotte Gardner on Bradford Island in the California Delta, where the USS Lucid MSO-458 had been moored for the previous eight years, and accepted a donation of the ship from her, in the name of the Save an MSO Foundation. Mike is a widower, and lives on the island in his small RV motor home.  

On March 1, 2006 the Lucid MSO-458 Foundation was incorporated in California, as a 501 (c)(3) public benefit corporation. The Save an MSO Foundation donated the USS Lucid MSO-458 to the Lucid Foundation on that date, and the Save an MSO Foundation was dissolved shortly afterwards. 

Warren currently serves as the Executive Director, CFO and Co-Founder of the Lucid Foundation.