Private First Class Wainwright was a member of Headquarters Battery, Division Artillery, 2nd Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 30 November 1950 and died while a prisoner on 3 February 1951.

Wainwright was awarded 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.