Private First Class Uptegrove was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy near Undam-Jang, North Korea on 23 April 1951. He was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Uptegrove was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman 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.