Captain Helton was the pilot of a F-84E Thunderjet fighter with the 524th Fighter Escort Squadron, 27th Fighter Escort Wing. On 16 April 1951, while on a combat mission near Kaesong-ni, South Korea, his aircraft crashed into a hill and disintegrated. 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.

Helton was awarded the Air Medal with 5 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.