Sergeant Pierce was a veteran of World War II. In Korea, he was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on December 1, 1950.

Through the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Sergeant Clayton M. Pierce were accounted for in 2024. His name is permanently inscribed on the “Courts of the Missing” at the Honolulu Memorial. His name is permanently inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.