Corporal Pierce was a member of Headquarters Battery, 15th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy near Hoengsong, South Korea, on 13 February 1951. He was presumed dead on 5 March 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Pierce was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Prisoner of War Medal, 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.