Brandon Michael Hardy was born on Sunday, March 8, 1981 to Warren and Jill Hardy of Cochranville, Pennsylvania. He was the oldest of four children. 

As far back as can be remembered, Brandon loved cowboys. As a little boy, he would always wear cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. He always loved to play outdoors. Branden had the gift of gab and during his elementary school years, a few teachers would comment on his “socializing skills.”

As a youngster, he loved to play baseball with his maternal great-grandfather, Robert Myers, a WW II Army veteran. They would play for hours at the West Fallowfield Community Center playground. 

At the age of 12, Brandon started to hunt and fish. He enjoyed hunting in the mountains of Centre County and around his home. He made several visits to see his Uncle John in Jackson Hole , WY that would ultimately become fishing trips. He was also a big Penn State Nittany Lion football fan.

Brandon graduated from Octorara High School in 1999. He then enrolled at  CAT-Brandywine Vocational Technical School in their Culinary Arts program. He was awarded the 1999 award for Outstanding Culinary Arts Co-Op Student. Afterwards, he worked at Country Gardens Restaurant.

While watching news coverage of Desert Storm in 1991, Brandon decided he wanted to serve his country in the military. He never wavered from that decision. On July 6, 1999 he left for basic training in the US Air Force. He reported to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, TX and graduated as a member of the Base Honor Flight on August 20, 1999. After basic training, and then technical training, he reported to his first duty station at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. He was stationed in Germany for two years and another three years at Fairchild Air Base in Spokane, WA. While serving at these duty stations, Brandon was deployed three times to the Middle East. He served in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates. While in the Air Force in Germany he played soccer, baseball and rode bulls on the rodeo team.His baseball team competed in a tournament in England. While as a new Airmen, he had the opportunity to be able to bring in the new millennium at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. He was also selected to be part of the Order of the Sword Ceremony to honor Five Star General John P. Jumper.