Ralph William Tierce was born in Drew, Mississippi on February 3, 1920 to his father, Otis Tierce (1880 -1961), and mother, Lillian Pearl Tierce(1894-1969), as the second youngest of four brothers, George (1912 - ? ), Joe (1918-1983), and Royce (1927-1968) with all four would assist their father farm 40 acres of land. The boys would all go through high school at Linn High School for four years except for George who only went through three years. All four of the boys would enlist in World War II, though at differing points and in different parts of the world. George would be enlisted in the Army Air Force and would serve in both theaters, Joe would be assigned to a tank crew in the European theater, and Ralph would be part of the Pacific theater. Royce would also enlist but would not see any actual action since he was too young until the end but all four boys would return home alive.