Born on November 3rd, 1976, in Harrison, Arkansas, and raised in nearby Green Forest, Thomas graduated from Green Forest High School in 1995. That May, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, leaving small-town Arkansas for Recruit Training Command at Great Lakes, Illinois, and an initial assignment aboard the USS Kidd.

In 1996 Thomas entered Naval Special Warfare Advanced Training in Virginia Beach, and in 1998 he graduated Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL School in Coronado, California, earning his Trident. He went on to serve with East Coast-based SEAL Teams before advancing to the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, where he served alongside some of the community's most decorated operators.

Over the course of his career, Senior Chief Ratzlaff completed twelve combat deployments, nine of them to Afghanistan, in addition to service in Iraq. His valor under fire was recognized five times with the Bronze Star Medal, the final award posthumous, and he was awarded the Purple Heart. He was also honored by the government of Canada with the Star of Military Valor, that nation's second-highest award for valor, making him the only non-Canadian ever to receive it.

On August 6, 2011, Senior Chief Ratzlaff was aboard the CH-47 Chinook helicopter callsign Extortion 17, part of a Naval Special Warfare quick reaction force responding to support U.S. Army Rangers engaged with insurgent forces in Wardak Province. When the helicopter was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, all 38 aboard were killed, the greatest single-incident loss of life in Naval Special Warfare history.

Senior Chief Thomas A. Ratzlaff gave twelve deployments and sixteen years of relentless, quiet service to the Teams and to the nation he loved. His courage under fire, recognized by two nations, stands as a lasting testament to the warrior he was.