Lieutenant Junior Grade Dixon was the pilot of a F4U-4 Corsair fighter assigned to Carrier Air Group 102 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31). On 4 July 1951, his aircraft was on the base leg of landing approach at about 150 feet altitude when it stalled and crashed into the sea inverted. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Dixon was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, 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.