Corbin started his military career in Denver, Colorado, January 20, 1941. He advanced through the ranks from private to Master Sergeant. He entered Aviation Cadets in 1943 and graduated as a Second Lieutenant in February 1944. He was trained as a P-38 fighter pilot, but the services needed B-17 pilots, so his class was switched to multi-engined bombers. Corbin became a B-17 Co-pilot and trained at Mac Dill Field, Tampa, Florida and graduated in june 1944. He flew the B-17 for 18 missions over Germany before they got hit and had to maintain a low altitude. In November 1944, he was on his 22nd bombing mission, he only needed 25 to go home. His target was a factory in germany, after he dropped his bombs over the target, they were hit by anti aircraft shells. Just as they were leaving the target area, they lost two engines, one on each side. They also lost the oxygen supply, so they dove as quickly as possible while trying to breath. His engineer gave him his oxygen emergence bottle, so the engineer passed out. They finally got down to 12,000 feet before they leveled off, and the engineer recovered. Finally the plane came down, they landed in a forest like area. Instantly there were german soldiers around the plane. Corbin was then brought to a military substation and had everything except his clothing taken. During his time as a POW he lost a lot of weight. Once Corbin made it home, everyone thought he died. His wife had remarried and started a family.