Captain Bird was the navigator of a B-29A Superfortress Bomber with the 345th Bomber Squadron, 98th Bomber Wing stationed at Yokota Air Base, Japan. On 19 November 1952, after completing a successful bomb run on Sonch'on, Korea, his aircraft was badly damaged by an enemy MiG. The crew bailed out a half mile north of Cho-do, North Korea. He was listed as Missing in Action and was presumed dead on 20 November 1953.

Bird was awarded the Air Medal, the Purple Heart, 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.