Private First Class Bracken was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was seriously wounded by the enemy in South Korea on 30 July 1950 and returned to duty on 30 August 1950. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 19 September 1950. He was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Bracken was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, 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.