Private First Class Bruinsma was a member of the 187th Airborne Infantry Regimental Combat Team. After making the last airborne combat jump of the war, he was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy near Munsan-ni, South Korea, on 26 March 1951.

Bruinsma was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Good Conduct Medal, 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.