His future and his past sending Baird to Washington

Friday, November 9, 2018
In the friendly confines of the Putnam County Courthouse, former county commissioner Jim Baird (right) laughs with some familar faces such as County Councilman Dave Fuhrman on election night. Baird is about to encounter a lot of new faces as he heads to Washington, D.C., as the new District 4 U.S. Congressman.
Banner Graphic/Jared Jernagan

Having won a resounding victory in Tuesday’s general election, Jim Baird of (R-Greencastle) will be headed to Washington, D.C., for the next two years as Indiana’s new 4th District U.S. congressman.

While the swearing-in ceremony won’t be until Jan. 3, Baird will get an early start on acclimating to Washington this weekend when he goes there to take part in a panel discussion as part of a preview for the Smithsonian Channel’s new documentary, “Gun Trucks of Vietnam.”

The new documentary -- not to be confused with the February 2017 program “The Weapon Hunter,” that also featured Baird, a veteran Vietnam convoy commander, and his Army cohorts -- will air at 9 p.m. Sunday (Veterans Day), at midnight Monday and again at 9 p.m. Tuesday on the Smithsonian cable channel (Channel 466 on Comcast in Greencastle).

The panel discussion is set for Monday at the National Museum of American History with Baird joining the producer of the film, the curator of the museum and Baird’s old gun truck running mate in Vietnam, Larry Fiandt.

Baird said he was selected “to talk about the trucks since I was on more than one of them.” He can help the audience understand the equipment and weaponry and how it was procured, and what it was like being ambushed by the Viet Cong as his crew escorted American convoys through treacherous territory within 10 miles of the infamous DMZ (demilitarized zone).

The new documentary and the previous “Weapon Hunter” show are “somewhat similar,” Baird said, noting that he believes the Smithsonian is trying to record history and “give credibility to the quality of the solider that fought in Vietnam.”

Publicity for the new documentary notes that “from M16 rifles to Huey helicopters, the Vietnam War launched weapons that went on to become legendary. This is the untold story of one such weapon built not by the Pentagon, but by teenage soldiers trying to keep themselves alive: The gun truck. Through interviews and home movies, meet the U.S. Army’s unsung heroes: The self-made, five-ton, moving monsters that defended convoys from enemy attack and went on to influence today’s combat tactics.”

The gun truck emerged from the tragedy and necessity of war and it was resourceful men like Jim Baird who had worked with guns and big farm machinery who knew how to patch things together with baling wire and duct tape that helped convert the trucks into armed weaponry.

Baird, who arrived in Vietnam in the fall of 1970 and lived through a number of ambushes, was aboard the gun truck The Proud American, serving as convoy commander, when it went for its last ride in March 1971.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it hadn’t been for the other gun trucks and gun truck crews,” Baird has said, recalling how he was in the last truck, following a convoy from Khe Sahn. He remembers standing in the bed of the vehicle next to the radio, right where he should have been, when they got hit by an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade). The first volley killed his driver.

“We were taking small arms fire,” Baird recalled, “and they (the North Vietnamese) were right there in the ditch beside us. We couldn’t move and we took another RPG to the fuel tank.”

That rocked his world.

“I can remember thinking, ‘the whole world turned orange,’” Baird told the 2017 TV program.

Baird’s whole world was certainly about to change but if it hadn’t been for those gun trucks coming back to support his crew, he wouldn’t have lived to tell about it. And he wouldn’t ever have become an ag agent, Putnam County commissioner, District 44 state legislator or District 4’s newest congressman.

That those other gun trucks came back with tracers and machine guns blazing to save them “still gives me a chill and makes my hair stand up,” Baird said, “because otherwise we were dead. They saved my life.”

Baird lost his left arm in that ambush, which meant the end of his war.

“That was the day I got my ticket out,” Baird told the Banner Graphic.

In 2012, Baird’s unit, the 523rd Transportation Company, was inducted into the U.S. Army Transportation Company Hall of Fame.

“As a convoy, we were involved in more conflict there than the infantry in that area,” he said.

“Our unit did such a good job,” Baird noted, “that the South Vietnamese gave us a citation and we were the first unit inducted into the Hall of Fame, and I was fortunate to be selected as the officer to accept that award.”

Now he accepts the challenge of going to Washington after carrying every single one of the 16 counties in Indiana’s 4th District, defeating Democrat Tobi Beck by an unofficial 156,655-87,801 count.

Did he ever think back when he was Putnam County ag agent or commissioner that one day he’d be headed for Washington, D.C., to represent fellow Hoosiers?

“No, never,” Baird said, “I can’t honestly say that I ever did.”

But reality is about to sink in. That Jan. 3 swearing-in is coming up and there are decisions to be made.

Like, is he planning to commute to Washington or move there temporarily as he succeeds Todd Rokita?

“We’re working on that right now,” the Washington newcomer said.

And what does wife Danise think about the situation?

“Hey, I wouldn’t even have tried this without her support,” Baird said, “I can assure you that.”