Blanton was killed at the young age of 19. He died only two days into the Battle of Peleliu. He was suspected to be killed from mortar fragments after an explosion. Second Lieutenant Hamberger and Captain Tiscernia recorded seeing him at 9:30 am on the morning of September 17, 1944. Later that day, he was discovered to be missing on the island. The search for his body was not possible as the battle continued heavily on that day.
The remains were considered to be non-recoverable by two 1st Lieutenants and a Captain. The case analyst compared discernible characteristics of Blanton with that of the remains on the Palau Islands and only received negative results from tests and observations. Blanton was declared Missing in Action and a letter was sent to his family on September 22, 1949 to confirm this status. Blanton’s name was placed on the Tablets of the Missing memorial in the Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.