Captain Rawls was the navigator on a B-26B Invader bomber with the 13th Bomber Squadron, 3rd Bomber Wing based at Kunsan Air Field (K-8), South Korea. On 8 July 1952, while on a night intruder mission over North Korea, the aircraft was seen on the ground after a crash. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Rawls 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.