Sergeant Bell was a member of the Boat Platoon, Headquarters and Service Company, 8th Engineer Combat Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. He was Killed in Action while manning an assault boat on the Naktong River by enemy mortar fire in South Korea on 11 August 1950.

Bell was awarded 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.