Rodney Evans was the adopted son of the Evans family of Florala, Alabama. His parents owned a dry cleaning business. After joining the US Army, he married his High School sweetheart, Barbara Geohagan. Evans was then sent to Vietnam and successfully completed a full tour of duty. Upon his return to the United States, he was stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama, not far from where he grew up. Due to financial constraints his wife lived with her parents and would drive up to Fort Rucker on weekends to pick him up and take him home.