Corporal Whitman was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded by the enemy in South Korea on 12 February 1951 and returned to duty on 28 March 1951. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 18 May 1951 and died while a prisoner on 31 August 1951. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Whitman was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, 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.