First Lieutenant Howell was the navigator of a B-26C Invader bomber with the 731th Bomber Squadron, attached to the 3rd Bomber Group based at Iwakuni Japan. On April 27, 1951, while on a night intruder mission contact with the aircraft was lost as it approached the target. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on January 31, 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.