Lieutenant Junior Grade Ball was the pilot of a F4U-4 Corsair fighter with Fighter Squadron 63, aboard the carrier USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). On 19 May 1951, while on a combat mission 14 miles northeast of Hongchon, North Korea, his aircraft was struck by anti-aircraft fire and crashed. He bailed out but appeared dead upon landing.

Ball was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Korean War Service Medal.