Clyde Junior Davis was born on April 13, 1924, in Okmulgee, a small town in Oklahoma. He was inducted into the US Army shortly after his high school graduation but hoped to one day study architecture.

Proving to be a smart and determined soldier, Davis completed the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) before becoming an infantry replacement for the Battle of the Bulge with the 66th Infantry Division. He was later reassigned to an antitank company of the 232nd Infantry Regiment, 42nd Infantry Division and applied for temporary assignment with the MFAA alongside Private First Class Richard M. Barancik. In November 1945, Corporal Davis and Private First Class Barancik were assigned to temporary duty in detachment E1B with the Education, Religion, Fine Arts, and Monuments Office of the US Military Government, Land Salzburg, Austria, where they assisted in the movement of displaced cultural objects to the central repository under the Property Control Branch. Davis also served as the able assistant to Monuments Man Captain Charles R. Sattgast. He remained involved in the recovery of looted works of art and other cultural objects until January 1946, when he enrolled in a military school in Switzerland.

Following his return to Oklahoma, Davis completed a degree in English from the University of Oklahoma and began a long and successful career in radio and television broadcasting. As an anchorman in radio and television in Oklahoma City and Denver, Colorado, he interviewed many notable political and entertainment figures. Upon his retirement, he relocated to Taos, New Mexico, with his wife. There, he worked in a gallery and acted in several commercials for local businesses. In his spare time, he collected books, historical newspaper clippings, and a large assortment of southwestern art. In the early 1990s, he and his wife moved to Lafayette, Louisiana, where he lived until his death.

Clyde Davis died in Lafayette, Louisiana, on March 18, 2014, and is buried in Okmulgee, Oklahoma.