Corporal Bruner was a member of Company B, 74th Engineer Combat Battalion, U.S. Army. On 5 July 1951, he was a member of a demolition team blasting a trail to be developed into a road near Sachang-ni, North Korea, when he was struck by falling rocks from an explosion and killed.

Bruner was awarded 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.