Airman First Class Bell was a crew member of a B-29A Superfortress Bomber with the 93rd Bomber Squadron, 19th Bomber Wing. On 23 January 1952, while on a bombing mission the aircraft's engines died leaving one engine. Contact was lost between Okinawa and Southern Korea. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on 28 February 1954. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Bell was awarded the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.