Clyde McCulley was born in the small rural town of Benton, Arkansas about 25 miles outside of Little Rock, during WWII; The year was 1941. 

Clyde was born in in a four room wood frame house. The youngest of six children, his brother, was 19 years older and the next youngest to him, a sister, was eight years older. There were three girls and three boys in all. His Daddy was sixty years old when Clyde was born, and his Mama was forty.

He grew up in the religiously conservative, segregated South. His Daddy lost all of his money and was forced to move the family to Arkansas to be near relatives. He was disabled and could not work, but wouldn’t take public assistance. Clyde’s Mother made $15/week cleaning houses. The family tried to subsist on food grown on their five-acre plot. With an additional mouth to feed, the oldest two boys enlisted in the service to send money home.