First Lieutenant Atkinson was the navigator of a B-26C Invader with the 13th Bomber Squadron, 3rd Bomber Wing at Kunsan Air Force Base (K-8), Korea. On 14 July 1953, while on a night intruder mission, contact with the aircraft was lost between Sinanju and Pyongyang, North Korea. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on 15 July 1954. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Atkinson 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.