Master Sergeant Layton was a veteran of World War II. In Korea he was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy on the eastern side of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea on December 2, 1950. He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953. His remains were recovered on July 1, 2004 and identified on September 28, 2006. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.