Private First Class Carey was a member of the 160th Field Artillery Battalion, U.S. Army. On 10 May 1952, he was severely burned by a gasoline explosion as he was cleaning a machine gun. He was evacuated to a hospital in Japan where he developed hepatitis and died on 10 July 1952.

Carey was awarded 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.