Sergeant Burton was a member of Company A, 1st Engineer Combat Battalion, U.S. Army. He received multiple injuries from a train-vehicle wreck near Anyang, South Korea and was evacuated to the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) where he died on 2 April 1951.

Burton 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.