Sergeant Brashear was a member of Company B, 70th Medium Tank Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 2 November 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

For his leadership and valor, Sergeant Brashear was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, 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.