Raised on a farm in Pennsylvania by his mother, she taught him all she knew about farming, shooting, and fighting, all of which she learned from her father. In an effort to be the man of the house, David over-compensated on the manly-quotient he had seen in what few movies they had around the house (mainly, Dirty Harry pictures). This made him especially rebellious as he grew older, and he tended to get into fights he shouldn't have gotten into.
Thankfully, Mama raised a tough li'l boy.
David ended up being more bully than righteous protector, but he did it all in the name of being strong and appearing strong to protect his mother. Things didn't turn out well however, when a roaming gang of wannabe-mafioso tried to terrorize the town. David talked back, and even fought one of the younger members of the gang, but was swiftly beaten nigh to death by other members before his mother stepped in and killed one of them. In retaliation, they found them at their farm, repeatedly raped and killed his mother, and dragged him along to use for additional sexual pleasure before selling him.
Upon arriving at the edges of what remained of New York City, David killed three of the hostage takers and fled, along with his mother's custom 1911 (that had been taken at the time of her murder). He grew up hard, and became a tough for one of the local gangs, earning the name "Hacksaw Dave" as he gained a reputation for using a hacksaw as a torture device. He also kept his mother's 1911 at his side, but he never used it-- he somehow felt what he was doing was wrong, and that using the gun to do what he was doing... would somehow stain his mother's memory.
Eventually, David fathered twin daughters with a hooker he had tried to turn straight. He had planned on taking her back to where he grew up, and start a life away from the drudge and horrible. Things didn't work out as they were supposed to, so "Hacksaw Dave" became a single dad. He dropped the Hacksaw moniker, found his old home, and raised his girls: Emma, and Anna.
Life wasn't so bad, and he did the best he could, being an exemplar over-doting and over-protective father. Unfortunately, however much he tried, you can't escape the filth of the city. Drugs especially found their way out to his patch of land, and his girls got hooked, hard and fast. Nothing he said or did could derail them from this path of pleasure-seeking self-destruction. And then they found Euphoria.
Emma OD'd. Anna left for the city to become a prostitute to continue getting her fix.
After a bout of depression, David was hit with both revelation and near-divine rage. Taking his mother's .45, he tracked the local dealer and blew his brains out with the gun. He then proceeded to kill all other dealers in the area, one by one, slowly and surely, making his way closer and closer to NYC. He plans on finding his remaining daughter, and taking her as far in land as he possibly can.