Private First Class Joyce was a member of Battery A, 61st Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 26 November 1950 and died while a prisoner on 2 February 1951. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Joyce was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal, 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.