Bond was born in Dallas, the son of Charles R. Bond, Sr., and Magnolia Turner Bond. His father operated a small business painting and hanging wallpaper. Bond was an honor student in high school and a participant in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. He joined the Texas National Guard while in high school. His family could not afford to send him to college. In 1935, he enlisted in the United States Army and enrolled in a West Point preparatory program hoping to be selected to attend the United States Military Academy. After failing to secure an appointment to the Military Academy, he returned home and worked for his father in the painting business.