Corporal Menken was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. On June 10, 1953, he was defending his position at "Outpost Harry" in North Korea when he came under intense artillery and mortar fire. He was seriously wounded and died of those wounds later that day. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.