Private First Class Barnes was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was seriously injured in South Korea on 23 September 1950 and returned to duty on 27 October 1950. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 2 December 1950. He was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Barnes was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman's 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.