Clyde Orland Arthur Satterfield was born March 9, 1925 in Grand Junction, Colorado. He was the oldest of seven children. In 1941, he joined the air force and went to Fort Hood, Texas where he did his training. After training he was sent to the Philippines (Guam) where he stayed during World War II. Family members were unaware of this until after the war, as he could not tell them in his letters because of security purposes. 

Clyde was a tailgunner aboard a B-29 fighter plane known as the "big bomber" during World War II. During an attack, by the Japanese, Clyde's plane was shot up so badly that the tail fell off and the plane went down. Clyde was able to escape with only minor injuries, and recovered a piece of the broken plane that he later made into a picture frame. 

During Clyde's time in the war, his family suffered hardships of their own back in Debeque, Colorado. They lived on a farm up Rome Creek, where his father, Lester, was forced to run two farms. This was because his brother, Poke, was drafted into the service as well. (Poke, was Clyde's uncle, and his real name was Harry Horace Satterfield).

Towards the end of WWII in 1945, two of Clyde's younger brothers enlisted into the service. Darrell enlisted into the army, and was sent to Berlin, Germany. Mike enlisted into the marines. Fortunately, they were never shipped to the South Pacific.