Private First Class McEnerny was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On 8 May 1951, there was a grass fire on Hill 709 near Nodong-ni, North Korea. It set off a grenade whose fragments killed him.

McEnerny was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, 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.