Sergeant First Class Burchfield was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded by the enemy in South Korea on September 22, 1950 and returned to duty on October 1, 1950. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in North Korea on November 26, 1950 and died while a prisoner on February 28, 1951. 

Through the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Sergeant First Class Riley Burchfield were accounted for in 2019. His name is permanently inscribed on the “Courts of the Missing” at the Honolulu Memorial.