Captain Hagerty was a crew member of a SB-29 Superfortress rescue aircraft with the 3rd Air Rescue Squadron, U.S. Air Force. On 31 January 1951, while on a rescue mission, engines three and four failed and the electric system went out. The aircraft crashed three miles south of Johnson Air Base, killing the crew.

Hagerty was awarded 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.