Major Griffiths was a veteran of World War II. In Korea, he was a member of Headquarters Company, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy near Kunu-ri, North Korea on November 30, 1950 and died while a prisoner at Camp 5, North Korea on August 31, 1951. His remains have been identified. His name is permanently inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.