Corporal Cormier was a veteran of World War II. In Korea, he was a member of Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 13 February 1951 and died while being transferred to another prison camp in North Korea on 18 May 1951. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Cormier was awarded 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, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.