Gordon Martson served in the U.S. Navy as a Pharmacist's Mate Second Class with the Medical Corps during World War II. He was killed in action on March 24, 1945 by sniper fire an hour after he left the island of Iwo Jima. He originally volunteered for the service in the US Navy Reserve in 1941 and served in the Naval Air Force until being discharged due to injuries received in a plane crash in 1943, after which he returned to the Naval Medical Corps. He had earlier served in the Marshall Islands.