On December 7, 1941 Captain Brender was a YN2c assigned to the USS Oklahoma BB-37 at Pearl Harbor. When the attack on Battleship Row began YN2c Brender was in the head taking a shower. When the Oklahoma was hit and began to heel over Brender got out of the ship by wriggling through a porthole and swam out into the harbor. The crew of a MWB spotted him, picked him up and sped over to another ship where they placed him on deck. He was immediately pressed into service as a loader on a 40 MM gun mount. Eventually someone found a blanket for him to wrap around himself and he remained on the gun until the action ceased. Later in the war he trained as a Navy Pilot and went on to receive the DFC with Star, Air Medal with 7 Stars, Purple Heart with Star, AP Campaign Medal with 8 Stars and the Navy Good Conduct Medal.
