First Lieutenant Barton was the pilot of a F4U-4B Corsair fighter with the Marine Fighter Squadron 323, Marine Air Group 12, 1st Marine Air Wing. On 1 March 1951, while making a strafing run on enemy positions near Chunchon, Korea, his aircraft received a direct hit by anti-aircraft fire, crashed and disintegrated.

Barton 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.