Corporal McDowell was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on December 2, 1950. He was presumed dead on March 15, 1954. His remains were not recovered at the time. Through the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Cpl. McDowell were accounted for in 2018. His name is permanently inscribed in the “Courts of the Missing” at the Honolulu Memorial.