Airman First Class Cave was the tail gunner of a B-26C Invader with the 13th Bomber Squadron, 3rd Bomber Wing. On 5 June 1952, while on a night intrusion mission, his aircraft departed Kunsan Airfield (K-8), South Korea. About midnight an emergency radio call announced his plane was on fire and the crew was bailing out about 15 miles south of Simni-Do Island, North Korea. No trace of the plane nor crew has been found. He was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Cave was awarded the Air Medal, 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.