Staff Sergeant Elsman was a crew member of a B-29A Superfortress Bomber with the 93rd Bomber Squadron, 19th Bomber Wing. On 12 April 1951, while on a combat mission, the aircraft was attacked by fifteen to twenty MiGs. His aircraft exploded and crashed into a mountain near Sinuiju, North Korea. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Elsman was awarded the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, 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.