Floyd was a pilot of a B-24 bomber during a raid on Laon Airfield at Laon, France. After bombing the airfield the bomber was on a return flight to base when an explosion rendered three of its four engines useless. As the plane lost altitude near Chievres, Belgium Floyd ordered his crew to bail out, which they all did except for him. Floyd realized that his plane would strike Chievres so he maneuvered the bomber towards an uninhabited area. At that point his bomber struck a high tension line and burst into flames, striking the ground just outside the village. Initially he was buried in the Chievres cemetery by the citizens of that town. They wrapped his body in an American flag and decorated his grave with a cross of white flowers. To this day he is honored annually on June 14th by the Chievres villagers. He now rests at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.