Master Sergeant Barrow was a veteran of World War II, during which he achieved the rank of Captain. In Korea, he was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on December 12, 1950. He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953.

Through the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Master Sergeant Roy E. Barrow were accounted for in 2023. His name is permanently inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.