Private First Class Oxner was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. While fighting the enemy at the Battle of the Kum River, South Korea on 16 July 1950, he was taken Prisoner of War and was forced to march to North Korea on the "Tiger Death March". He was executed by a prisoner guard on 28 July 1950 at Pyong-Yang, North Korea.

Oxner was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Korean War Service Medal.