Vernon was born on August 7, 1930 in Glen Almond, Quebec. He was born the 10th of 12 children to Joseph Camile Carriere and Verna May (née Judge). He lived on the family farm until enlisting with the Canadian Military in 1951 at the age of 21.

At the beginning the Korean War, Vernon was sent to Korea with the Royal Canadian Regiment Airborne Division. Due to Vernon's strength and hunting skills from living at the farm, he was often selected to "volunteer" for night-time scouting missions. During the battle of Kowang San, South Korea, (nicknamed the battle of Little Gibraltar), shrapnel pierced Vernon's helmet and he was left for dead. Vernon was able to crawl back to his base camp. Due to the injury he sustained, a missing portion of his skull was replaced with a metal plate.

The Korean War ended in 1953 with an armistice, with no treaty signed. After the two World Wars, Korea remains Canada’s third bloodiest overseas conflict, taking the lives of 516 Canadians and wounding more than 1,200.

Vernon continued participating in peace keeping missions all over the world. He eventually returned to Canada as an instructor of new military recruits at the Base Camp in Val Cartier, Quebec.

Upon his retirement from military service, Vernon returned to the farm to stay with his brother Michael and Michael's family. However, he found it difficult reintegrating into civilian life and moved to Inuvik.

Vernon kept in touch with Michael and Michael's family. In fact, Vernon spoke with Michael two days before his death. After his death and his funeral service in Inuvik, a portion of Vernon's ashes were returned to the farm in Glen Almond. Another portion of Vernon's ashes were interred with a headstone in Inuvik. He died on March 10, 2009.