Pop grew up in a small, rural farming town. Outside the corn, cotton, sorghum, and soybean farming that supported his family, one of his first jobs during high school was working at J.C. Penney. This day-to-day work cultivated business, sales, advertising, and merchandising skills that contributed to his future success. He was offered a full-time position after high school with J.C. Penney, but instead enlisted for active military duty amid an escalating world war.

In 1942, Pop graduated from the Air Corps training school as a Flight Officer, describing it as “the highlight of my life.” He joined a special group of flight officers and was the first in his group to be commissioned into the Air Corps. Unfortunately, he soon received orders for the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, relocating to Saipan of the Mariana Islands, leaving behind his friends, family, and newlywed wife, Joan. “This parting was one of pain, for we really did not know if we would ever see each other again,” Pop recalled.

During his deployment in Saipan, Pop flew several missions dropping desperately needed supplies over camps holding American prisoners of war. On one of these relief missions, Pop encountered extreme weather with zero visibility and little remaining fuel. A ground controller located Pop’s plane with radar and directed his every move for a safe landing. “I can clearly recall almost every word he used as he advised us of our position on the glide path, a little above or a little below the glide path, a few degrees left, or a few degrees right…,” Pop stated. “From that day, I have always felt that I was living on borrowed time, for this was the closest I had ever come to not being here today.” Thankfully, Pop returned from the war unscathed, was reunited with Joan, and from 1949 to 1963, they had 10 children together (8 boys and 2 girls).