Sergeant First Class Campbell was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was wounded in action in South Korea on 7 September 1950 and returned to duty on 9 September 1950. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 19 May 1951 and died while a prisoner on 11 August 1951. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

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