Master Sergeant Franklin was a member of Battery C, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded by the enemy near Kunu-ri, North Korea, on 1 December 1950 and died of those wounds later that day. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Franklin 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.