Jim Baird joins other disabled war vets for unique photo op

Congressman Jim Baird (left) is joined on the U.S. House floor by Florida Congressman Brian Mast (center) and Texas Congressman Dan Crenshaw for a photo Mast tweeted out Thursday in honor of the three disabled veterans.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Congressman Jim Baird's first day on the job sailed off into the Twittersphere.

Thursday was a busy day for U.S. Rep. Baird as the Greencastle Republican was officially sworn in to represent Indiana's 4th District and then posed for a touching, widely circulated photo with two other wounded war veterans elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Rep. Brian Mast, 18th District congressman from Florida, tweeted the photo Thursday to welcome Rep. Baird and Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Spring, Texas, to Congress with the caption "5 eyes. 5 arms. 4 legs. All American."

By 8:45 p.m. the tweeted photo had been retweeted 5,00 times and liked 18,000 times.

Baird lost his left arm serving combat duty in the Vietnam War. Crenshaw lost an eye while serving as a Navy SEAL in Afghanistan, while Mast lost both his legs and a finger in an explosion in Kandahar.

Crenshaw made news late last year after "Saturday Night Live" star Pete Davidson made light of his war injury during a Weekend Update segment on "SNL."

Baird, Indiana's newly elected 4th District congressman, was among the many who spoke out against Davidson's comments.

"Disrespecting our wounded combat veterans crosses a line that Hoosiers will not tolerate," Baird said in a statement. "My fellow veterans put it all on the line to preserve and defend our way of life and their sacrifice should not be used as political fodder."