First Lieutenant Pugh was the pilot of a F-80C Shooting Star fighter interceptor with the 35th Fighter Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter Bomber Group. On 23 September1951, while on a combat mission, his aircraft received a direct hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed at high speed. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Pugh was awarded the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.