Corporal Pursley was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 2 December 1950. He was presumed dead on 24 February 1954. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Pursley was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman Badge, 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.