Thomas Myrick was born in November 1927 in Monroe, Louisiana and lived there on and off during his early childhood. His father worked as an engineer on the railroad and his mother worked in the office of a department store. Although the Great Depression "must have been bad" for his parents, Myrick said he didn't know about the hardships. Myrick was the second of two sons, and spent his high school years, during the Second World War, in Bossier City, Louisiana. When the news broke about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Myrick was home alone, listening to the radio. He didn't know where Pearl Harbor was, and isn't sure he understood what was unfolding at the time, but somehow grasped the significance of the event. As a high school freshman, he and his classmates were very much aware of the country being at war and discussed it in current events classes. Barksdale Air Force Base is located in Bossier City, and a number of the kids in Myrick's school had parents in the military. The older students were going into the service, and a large part of the student body would turn out at the train station to see them off. But many kids Myrick's age stayed in school because there was nothing else to do, and because the draft was inevitable, they had no incentive to start college. Myrick was in his fifth year of high school when he turned 18.

Perhaps because Barksdale Air Force Base was in his hometown of Bossier City, Louisiana, Thomas Myrick followed Doolittle's [Annotator's Notes: later USAF General James H. Doolittle] Tokyo Raid very closely through a serial magazine article. He remembers being impressed with what the unit had done. Bossier City was a small town, but had an organized Civil Defense group, and Myrick was a messenger for the warden. His duties included checking his neighborhood for lights during blackouts. Myrick was 18 when he graduated, and in August [Annotator's Note: August 1945] of that year the Japanese surrendered. Everyone expected an end to the draft, but when that didn't happen, Myrick enlisted in the Navy rather than being called into service in the Army. With a couple of buddies, he went to the recruiting office to register, and in early December 1945 he went to New Orleans for a physical examination and was sworn into the Navy. He traveled by troop train to San Diego, California where he went through 16 weeks of boot training. Myrick remembers they were all a bunch of homesick kids, but because he was an athlete, he didn't find it physically taxing. He said he learned to be independent and responsible, and rather enjoyed the experience. Myrick could tell that processes were slowing down once the war was over, but some apprehension remained, and the United States still felt they needed an able military.

After boot training, Thomas Myrick underwent extensive testing, and was selected for yeoman's school. Myrick recalls that his classes were taught by war veterans who were disinclined to share their combat experiences with the students who were very interested in hearing about it all. When he completed his studies in the spring of 1946, he was sent to Norfolk, Virginia by troop train, which took a week. On his first day in Norfolk, Myrick volunteered to work in the chaplain's office. He served under both the Catholic and Protestant chaplains, all officers, for the rest of his career in the Navy. He performed clerical duties and ran errands as directed, and lived in a private room in back of the Protestant church. Myrick admired his superior officer, Captain Harry Clinton Wood, and considers him the most significant person in his lifetime.

Prior to his military experience, Thomas Myrick had little concern about the future. That, he feels, was partly due to the fact that during the war nobody planned too far ahead. But as he matured, and observed the outlook and empathy of his mentor, Chaplain Harry Wood, Myrick became aware of the concerns and needs of others, and even considered becoming a chaplain. After his discharge, Myrick went to East Texas Baptist College [Annotator's Note: now East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas] on the G.I. Bill, and got married while he was in school. He majored in history and psychology, and eventually changed his mind about becoming a minister, but still feels his two years in the Navy had the greatest impact on his life.

After college, Thomas Myrick took a job in Shreveport, Louisiana with the U.S. District Clerk of Court's Office for two years, then transferred to the U.S. Marshall's office for two years. In 1955 he became the United States Probation Officer for the Western District of Louisiana. He maintains that his experience in the Navy, and his education and a home loan obtained through the G.I. Bill, set him up for a productive civilian life. He feels that he was uniquely prepared for a job that helped his fellow man. He does not think today's generation understands or fully appreciates what World War 2 did for the nation, mostly because the culture has changed so drastically, and so much is lost to history. He asks "if The National WWII Museum doesn't tell the story, who will?"