Sergeant Bear was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in South Korea on 4 September 1950. His remains have been recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Bear was awarded the Purple Heart, 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.