Airman First Class Rutter was a member of the 3rd Installation Squadron, 3rd Air Base Group. On October 23, 1952, a F-84G Thunderjet fighter from the 429th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 474th Fighter-Bomber Group caught fire on takeoff from Kunsan Air Base (K-8), and the pilot ejected. Airman Rutter was trying to extinguish the fire when the ordnance exploded.