Captain Paffenroth was the pilot of a B-26B Invader bomber with the 8th Bomber Squadron, 3rd Bomber Group, based at Iwakuni Air Base, Japan. On 19 October 1950, while he was participating in night intruder mission over Sianju, Korea in bad weather, contact with the Aircraft was lost. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Paffenroth was awarded the Air Medal with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters, 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.