Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Thomas Pugh, born October 21, 1020, and killed December 18, 1951, was a Navy pilot aboard the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge during the Korean War who died after his plane was damaged on a mission over North Korea. He received many medals, including the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and extraordinary achievement in aerial flight on a mission four days before his death, when as a pilot and flight leader he skillfully led twelve attack aircraft in a hazardous strike against vital enemy rail installations, braved intense hostile antiaircraft fire to press home his attack, and personally scored three direct hits. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in 1943, Pugh had also served as a line officer aboard the USS Pruitt during World War II. The park also honors local service members from the Korean War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Cold War period, and the Vietnam Conflict, listing by name those who served or fell in those conflicts.