Captain Layton was a crew member of a B-29A Superfortress Bomber with the 28th Bomber Squadron, 19th Bomber Wing. On July 12, 1950, while on a bombing mission, his aircraft was attacked by three Yak-9's near Seoul and its engine caught fire. The crew bailed out. Captain Layton was taken Prisoner of War, forced to march to North Korea on the "Tiger Death March", and died while a prisoner at An-Dong, North Korea on May 31, 1951.