Sergeant Brandes was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 4 June 1953. He was presumed dead on 5 June 1954. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Brandes was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's 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.