Corporal Emerson was a member of Battery D, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery (Automatic Weapons) Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded by the enemy near Kunu-ri, North Korea on 26 November 1950 and returned to duty on 5 February 1951. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy near Hoensong, South Korea on 13 February 1951 and was killed by a guard on 10 June 1951. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Emerson was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Prisoner of War Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.