Private First Class Short was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 3 September 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Short was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, 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.