PITTSBURGH — Nearly half a century after rescuing a disabled boat under fire in a Vietnam river, a Butler County veteran will be honored Sunday for his bravery.

William “Gus” Pagonis of Evans City is one of 15 Pennsylvanian veterans being inducted into the Hall of Valor at the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum.

The public induction ceremony will be at 2 p.m., according to Casey Patterson, spokesman for the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial.

Pagonis, who is a retired three-star general after serving three decades in the military, was awarded a Silver Star Medal for his actions during the 1968 Tet Offensive of the Vietnam War.

While maneuvering artillery barges through a delta, the 1097 Transportation Company under Pagonis' command faced enemy fire. One of the boats pulling the barges became stuck in the water.

“The rivers weren't very big,” Pagonis said. “It's not like the Monongahela or the Allegheny. They're more like the Connoquenessing Creek. And when the boat turned sideways, it blocked the passageway. Then about several thousand soldiers were susceptible to being fired on from the banks by the Viet Cong.”

Pagonis said he jumped onto the boat to move the disabled barge so his men could evacuate.

“We had to go back through enemy fire to get to the boat,” Pagonis said. “It looked like red laser beams across the river. That was the enemy fire. And the soldiers on my small boat went right through it without any hesitation.”

Pagonis said he doesn't view his actions that day as “that big of a deal.”

“When you're a young captain — 25 years old — you're doing your job,” Pagonis said. “You gotta remember, I spent 30 years in the Army. I fought in the Gulf War and retired as a three-star general. At the time, I was just glad that my soldiers were safe.”

Other inductees in the Class of 2014 include Medal of Honor, Distinguished Flying Cross and Silver Star recipients from World War II and the Vietnam, Korean and Civil Wars.

“We reward people for acts of valor, but it's always surprising that we miss so many,” Pagonis said.

“There were a lot of other people in this same incident that did a great job. Some were rewarded and some were not. So any time you receive an award, you always receive it in the names of all those other people that did a great job.”

Pagonis, who received an MBA from Penn State University, served as the head of Sears Roebuck supply chain for 11 years after retiring from the military.

In 2004, Pagonis and his wife, Cheri, moved to Evans City.

The Charleroi, Washington County, native said Butler County was a good place to settle down.

“She's from Indiana (Pennsylvania) so we decided on Butler County because it was right between where we grew up,” Pagonis said.

Pagonis is a consultant for Walgreens and is the chairman of different startup companies. His wife operates the C & G Horse Ranch in Connoquenessing Township.

“It's a beautiful facility,” Pagonis said, adding the it offers riding lessons for children. “She's a farm girl that wanted a place where her grandchildren needed to leave their cell phones at the door.”

Pagonis and his wife have two sons, Gust and Robert.

Both followed their father's footsteps and spent time in the military.

“You can say we have a lot of military tradition in the family,” Pagonis said.

Patterson said Pagonis is one of three surviving honorees who will attend Sunday's ceremony.

Pagonis joins a small group of Butler County residents in the Hall of Valor. Patterson said when the hall began in 1963, Allegheny County ran Soldiers & Sailors. The museum did not begin accepting veterans from outside Allegheny County until 2000.

“Once we became a nonprofit, we originally opened it up to southwestern Pennsylvania,” Patterson said. “(That) would have been the first time that we allowed Butler County in, but we now have it open to the entire state.”

She does not know how many Butler County residents are in the hall.

She said to qualify for induction, veterans must have received a medal for valor in a mission and have some significant affiliation with Pennsylvania.

Soldiers & Sailors accepts year-round applications for the Hall of Valor. Applications for the Class of 2015 are due Feb. 1, 2015, Patterson said.

Eagle staff writer Will DeShong contributed to this article.