Born in Cotton Valley, Louisiana, Vernon farmed with a mule, and hunted and fished along Dorcheat Bayou. He graduated high school in 1944, and then was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1945. Japan surrendered while he was undergoing infantry training. He sailed to the occupation aboard the USS Admiral H.T. Mayo (AP-125), landed at Yokohama, and reported to the Fourth Replacement Depot. Assigned to the 232^nd Signal Company of the Seventy-First Signal Service Battalion, Vernon worked as a truck driver. He came home in October of 1946 and was discharged at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio. Vernon returned to Louisiana and worked in the oil fields, but later enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on December 29, 1950. He worked in supply at duty stations in Japan, England, and Barksdale Air Force Base, where he retired on June 17, 1968.