Master Sergeant Starkey was a member of the 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy near Taejon, South Korea on 20 July 1950. He was reportedly murdered in a tunnel near Sunch'on, North Korea on 20 October 1950.

Starkey was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman 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 and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.