Ensign Scarsheim was the pilot of a F4U-4 Corsair fighter with Fighter Squadron 193 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Princeton (CV-37). On 24 December 1950, while on a combat mission northwest of Hungnam, Korea, his aircraft crashed and disintegrated upon impact. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Scarsheim was awarded the Air Medal, 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.