USMA Class of 1950, First Lieutenant Baxter was the pilot of a F-51D Mustang night fighter with the 39th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 18th Fighter Bomber Group. On December 21, 1951, while on a combat mission, his aircraft received a direct hit by anti-aircraft fire, burst into flames and crashed. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on December 31, 1953. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.