Sergeant Thrailkill was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was seriously wounded while fighting the enemy near Unsan, North Korea on 2 November 1950 and died of those wounds on 12 November 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Thrailkill was awarded the Purple Heart, 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.