Captain Ness was the pilot of a F4U-4B Corsair fighter with the Marine Fighter Squadron 323, Marine Air Group 12, 1st Marine Air Wing. On 3 April 1952, while making a bombing run near Sammok-tong, his aircraft crashed into a ridge and burned. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Ness was awarded the Air Medal with Gold Star, the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, 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.