Private First Class Betz was a member of Company D, 772nd Military Police Battalion, U.S. Army. On 7 October 1952, he was a security guard on a hospital train going north near Sindong, South Korea, when it collided with another train.

Betz was awarded 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.