Corporal Brech was a member of Headquarters Company, 160th Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division. He was clearing a mine field near Tutayon, North Korea, when a mine exploded causing a fatal wound to his chest on 20 November 1952.

Brech was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, 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.