Corporal Cale was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 2 December 1950. He was presumed dead on 15 January 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Cale 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.