Corporal Puhr was a member of the Air/Navy Gunfire Liaison Company, 1st Signal Battalion, 1st Marine Division. He was seriously wounded while fighting the enemy in Korea and died of those wounds on 11 December 1950.

Puhr was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, 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.