Sergeant Cornell was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 12 December 1950 and died while a prisoner on 31 December 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Sergeant Cornell was awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, 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.