Corporal Whitehead was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in the "Iron Triangle", North Korea on 31 December 1951.

Whitehead was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal, the Army of Occupation Medal (Japan), and the Good Conduct Medal.