Second Lieutenant Franklin was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. On 2 September 1951. He was leading the 2nd Platoon in a bayonet charge up Hill 602, Korea, when he was struck down by enemy machine-gun fire.

Franklin 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.