Eugene Leo Sasman was born in Neenah, Wisconsin on June 2, 1922. His family moved soon after to Madison, where he attended local schools and graduated from Madison West in 1940. A student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, he enlisted into the Army Air Corps in March 1942 and trained at Santa Ana and Santa Maria, California. He served stateside during the war as a liaison pilot doing photography, search and rescue, and tracking missions. His service included stints in Texas (July-November 1943) and Alexandria Army Air Field in Lousiana (December 1943-April 1945). Sasman was discharged in December 1945 and returned to college. After graduating, he worked as a salesman around the Midwest before marrying Marion Snow in 1949 and settling in Madison, where the couple had three children.
