Staff Sergeant O'Donnell was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in Korea on 13 January 1952. He was presumed dead on 6 January 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

O'Donnell was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, 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.