Keylon W. Clarke enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps on December 12, 1942 and began active duty on February 21, 1943. He was the First Pilot of a B-17 and Commander of a crew, initially 10 men and reduced to 9 men later in the war. He was based in Glatton, England, with the 749th Squadron of the 457th Bomb Group. Clarke flew four missions:

Mission 123: Nijmegen, Holland, September 17, 1944, flying as Co-Pilot on the first mission

Mission 124: Soest, Germany, September 19, 1944, "spare plane," returned to base fully loaded

Mission 125: Frankfurt, Germany, September 25, 1944, railroad yards

Mission 128: Magdeburg, Germany, Semtember 28, 1944

For Mission 128, Clarke's plane was armed not with bombs, but with counterfeit German food ration books and counterfeit railroad tickets. The plane was hit by flak over the target, as it was flying "Tail End Charlie." Bad fires developed in two engines. An attempt to extinguish the fires by swooping down did not work. Clarke gave the order to bail out. Lt. Walter Sundling, the navigator, was badly injured by the flak. The crew had taken his parachute off, and were attempting to give first aid. Clarke ordered the men to put Sundling's parachute on him, and throw him out of the plane, believing that his only chance for survival was on the ground. Sundling survived the war and many years after. Clarke continued to fly the plane with fires in two engines so that his crew could exit the plane. All of the crewmen except for Ball Turret Gunner Reed Simpson parachuted safely to the ground. Simpson had exited the turret and was standing on the catwalk when last seen by the other men. Lt. Robert Hovland had unfastened Clarke's seat and shoulder belts and also the flak vest strap. When one fuel tank exploded, Clarke lost consciousness briefly, but came to with his face pressed against the windshield and the plane spinning toward the ground. When the second fuel tank exploded a short time later, Clarke found himself in the air, essentially uninjured. Hovland's actions had undoubtedly saved his life. Hovland himself reached the ground safely, but died during capture by the Germans. Engineer Al ("Pop") Griffith landed on a camouflaged Luftwaffe air base. Clarke and six of his crew were captured by German soldiers. Clarke and Bombardier Robert Smith carried the injured Navigator Sundling through the train station in Frankfurt, after which Sundling was sent to a POW hospital. Clarke and Smith were transported north to Stalag Luft I, Barth, Germany, near the Baltic Sea. They were liberated from the POW camp by the advancing Russian Army on May 1, 1945. All of the men who survived on September 28, 1945, survived the war and lived long afterwards. They held many reunions over the years.