Corporal Avant was a member of the Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. While serving on Task Force McLean near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, he was listed as Missing in Action on November 30, 1950. He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953. 

Through the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Corporal Joe Thomas Avant were accounted for in 2019. His name is permanently inscribed on the “Courts of the Missing” at the Honolulu Memorial.