Henry "Jim" Pierson Crowe was born March 7, 1899, in Boston, Kentucky, the fourth of the five children of Samuel Lee Crowe (1865–1921) and Alvada T. Crowe (1868–1942). After attending high school at Mount Pulaski, Illinois, for three years, he entered the Marine Corps on October 28, 1918. After boot camp at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, he served in port security at Brest, France, under General Smedley D. Butler (after the World War I Armistice), returned as a private first class, and was discharged December 1919. He reenlisted in 1921. He served in the Dominican Republic (1921–1923), in Nicaragua (1928), and at various other posts and stations. He was also a frequent participant in local and national shooting competitions, winning the coveted Distinguished Marksman Medal in 1927.