First Lieutenant Rood was a member of Battery C, 555th Field Artillery Battalion, 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy near Kumsong, North Korea, on 14 July 1953. He was presumed dead on 15 July 1954.

Rood was awarded 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.