William Jack McClendon was born at Sturdivant, Bollinger County, Missouri on June 29, 1914. His parents were William Homer McClendon (called Homer) (14 Feb 1885 – 24 Aug 1967), who was born in Missouri; and Golda Mae (Jones) McClendon (25 Aug 1889 – 4 Jun 1959), who was born in Illinois. His parents married about 1908. He had an older sister, Hazel McClendon (abt 1910 – unk); and a younger brother, John D. McClendon (4 Oct 1918 – 29 Apr 2013). In 1918 the family lived at Sturdivant, Bollinger County, Missouri, and his father was a timber worker for M. E. Leming Lumber Company in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In April 1940 the family lived at 227 South Spanish Street, Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and his parents ran a home laundry service.

He graduated from Central High School, Cape Girardeau, Missouri in 1931, and married Flora Lillian (Pensel) McClendon (later Miller) (2 Oct 1914 – 21 Oct 2003) at Cape Girardeau on November 25, 1933. In April 1940 he and his wife lived with his parents in Cape Girardeau, and he worked as a traveling salesman for a coffee company. He registered for the draft at Cape Girardeau on October 16, 1940. He was 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed 180 pounds, and had hazel eyes and blonde hair. At that time he worked for Rueseler Motor Company at 226 North Fountain Street in Cape Girardeau. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at Jefferson Barracks, Saint Louis, Missouri on February 16, 1943.

He completed Army Air Forces flight engineer and aerial gunnery training and was assigned to the heavy bomber crew of Lt Robert G. Kraker in the 839th Bomb Squadron, 487th Bomb Group, at Army Air Forces Station 137 near Lavenham, Suffolk, England. The Kraker crew was a replacement crew that arrived at Station 137 by June 5, 1944, and became part of the 8th U.S. Army Air Force in Europe.

On December 24, 1944, the 8th Air Force launched mission #760, the largest aerial mission of the war, a maximum effort which involved more than 2000 heavy bombers. The mission was to bomb German airfields and supply lines, to stop the German offensive in the Ardennes known as the Battle of the Bulge. The 487th Bomb Group led the entire 8th Air Force on this mission. On this mission the Kraker crew was assigned to lead a Squadron of the 487th Bomb Group which flew as the Low Squadron of the 94th Bomb Group (Composite). Captain Hugh B. Robertson Jr, O-678329, flew in the copilot position as Air Leader, and 2/Lt Morris Schmulewitz flew with the crew as radar operator (aka 'Mickey' Operator).

T/Sgt McClendon and three of his crewmates went missing in action on December 24, 1944, when their aircraft, B-17G 42-98019 'Mutzie B', had engine trouble over Belgium while inbound to the target, and Lt Kraker was forced to abort the mission. On the return, an engine exploded and caught fire over the North Sea. T/Sgt McClendon and three crewmates—2/Lt Morris Schmulewitz, T/Sgt Gordon P. Thoroman, and S/Sgt Robert A. Nash—bailed out at 1320 hours and landed in the North Sea up to eight miles offshore from Ostend, Belgium, in the vicinity of 51°12'N, 2°37'E. Despite search and rescue efforts with boats and aircraft, they were never found.

T/Sgt McClendon is memorialized on the Wall of the Missing at Cambridge American Cemetery near Madingley, England.

B-17G 42-98019 crew:
• F/O Robert G. Kraker – Pilot
• F/O Braden M. Souders – Copilot
• F/O Scott Roberts – Navigator
• 2/Lt Charles C. Collet Jr – Bombardier
• S/Sgt Gordon P. Thoroman – Radio Operator
• S/Sgt William J. McClendon – Engineer
• Sgt Leon A. Comstock – Engineer/Gunner
• Sgt Walter S. Deel – Engineer/Gunner
• Sgt Elwood C. Fry – Armorer/Gunner
• S/Sgt Robert A. Nash – Engineer/Gunner

Source of information: Paul M. Webber, www.findagrave.com