Corporal Cole was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 4 November 1952. He was presumed dead on 31 December1953. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Cole was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, 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.