Technical Sergeant Brand was a crew member of a HRS-1 Sikorski Helicopter with Marine Helicopter Transportation Squadron 161, 1st Marine Division. On February 12, 1953, during a rendezvous with an aircraft carrier 25 miles south of Pusan, South Korea, his helicopter crashed into the ocean. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial. Technical Sergeant Brand was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, 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.