Airman Farrell was serviceman for the F9F-4 Panther Jet fighter with Fighter Squadron 837 aboard the aircraft carrier USS ANTIETAM (CV-36). On January 21, 1952, he was preparing for the morning launch in a snowstorm when he became disoriented and fell overboard. A search for him was unsuccessful. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.