Miguel Torres Duarte was born in October 1931, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Artemio Duarte.  His father was employed at Columbia Steel and the family lived at 2222 W. 203rd Street in Torrance. Duarte was a former Torrance High student who worked at a laundry before entering the service in 1950. 

Private First Class Duarte was a member of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team of the U.S. Army. On October 20, 1950 he made a parachute jump behind enemy lines in the Sukchon area about thirty miles north of Pyongyang to help cut off retreating North Korean forces. PFC Duarte was entitled to wear the Combat Infantryman Badge as a result of this action.

On February 15, 1951 PFC Miguel Duarte was killed in action. Not many details of this are known, but according to The Army Historical Foundation, the 187th was involved in heavy fighting at this time.

PFC Miguel T. Duarte was awarded the Korean Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Purple Heart, Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, Republic of Korea War Service Medal, and the United Nations Service Medal. His body was returned to California aboard the SS Alamo Victory ship, and he is buried at the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.