Sergeant Payne was a member of the 120th Engineer Combat Battalion, 45th Infantry Division. On 15 February 1952, he was a member of a team to free a tank that was stuck in North Korea. The following morning, having a premonition that there was impending danger, he gave his dog tags to a comrade before entering the tank. During the night, North Korean had bobby trapped it, and it exploded.

Payne was awarded 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.