Captain Brandsted was the navigator of a B-26B Invader bomber with the 730th Bomber Squadron, 452nd Bomber Wing. On 22 March 1952, while on an armed reconnaissance near Kangdong, North Korea, contact was lost with the aircraft. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on 28 February 1954. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Brandsted was awarded the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, 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.