KANDAHAR – On June 5, 2007, Spc. Simon Baum, an infantryman with Troop C, 4th Sqdrn, 73rd Cav Regt, was driving a Humvee in a convoy of almost 2 dozen vehicles.
They were escorting a group of engrs past the barren, rolling hills on the road from Shirona to Wazi-Kwa in Paktika prov. Also riding in the vehicle were his plt sgt, Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Weber, the gunner, Spc. Ryan Greenwood, and a Polish soldier they were transporting.
Suddenly, there was a violent explosion. "I was really pissed my iPod was broken," Baum said.
Now a sgt and team leader with Co A, 2nd Bn, TF Fury, Baum jokes that he's returned to Afghanistan to seek revenge for being wounded in an IED attack 2 years ago. "I was excited to come here and be a team leader," Baum said. "I've got a great group of guys."
The 30-year old combat veteran celebrated for his sense of humor, became even more celebrated when, 2 days before leaving for Afghanistan, he and his wife Rebecca found out that they would be having their 1st child, and their 2nd child and their 3rd child.
Although Baum jokes about the injuries he suffered in Afghanistan, it would take 2 years, 5 surgeries, and a possible medical discharge before he could return to the job he loves. "We were listening to Led Zeppelin inside the truck; I'll never forget that," Baum said. "I heard 'good times, bad times,' and that's the last thing I remember."
Staff Sgt. Aaron Best, who was in the truck directly behind Baum's, remembers seeing the blast. The front of the vehicle was destroyed and the doors were blown open. Later Best and his fellow paratroopers would find the vehicle's tow bar 800 meters down the road, he said. When Baum came to, he saw the truck's windshield was gone. He looked down to make sure he still had all his limbs, and saw the 4-foot deep blast crater directly below him.
Baum was covered in black soot and bleeding from several shrapnel cuts. He fell as he tried to get out of the vehicle. He then felt blood on his face and realized he was in pain. Greenwood and one of the troop's medics dragged Baum away from the vehicle. Both Greenwood and Weber had fractures and cuts from the IED's shrapnel, but Baum had taken the brunt of the blast. His right wrist was broken, right fibula was fractured, had torn cartilage in his right knee, and numerous small cuts from shrapnel. He would later be diagnosed with mild traumatic brain injury.
The Polish soldier had been miraculously untouched by the blast and was already well away from the Humvee, pulling security. "He didn't look like he'd been in an IED at all," Baum said.
Baum told Weber he was sorry he'd hit an IED; he didn't hit it on purpose. "There was a lot of laughing," Baum said, "'Man, that was crazy. I can't believe that happened.'"
"You can't do much about it but laugh," said 1st Sgt. Matthew Parrish, Baum's 1st sgt. "You have to have a sense of humor ... because you're alive."
Immediately after the IED attack the paratroopers formed a perimeter around their convoy and spotted a group of men fleeing the scene, Best said. They pursued them to a nearby village where the residents told them that the men weren't from there. The Paratroopers tracked the group down to an orchard where they got into a firefight. Within 15 minutes from the time the IED went off, the triggerman was killed, and the spotter and emplacer were captured, Best said. Meanwhile, Baum drifted in and out of consciousness, he said. Within 30 minutes, the medevac helicopter arrived.
Four days later Baum was strapped to a litter in a plane taking off for Germany. No sooner did the aircraft ease into a cruise than Baum saw a bright flash through one of the windows, and the pilot commenced a series of gut-churning evasive maneuvers. As if it wasn't enough that they blew him up, the Taliban were trying to shoot him out of the sky.
Baum has a talent for making light of even the most serious situation. His sense of humor and positive attitude were missed back in Afghanistan. "He never let anything get to him," Best said. "Whenever I'd be in a bad mood, he'd make a joke and get me smiling again."
Baum was taken to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany where he was expected to make a full recovery and rejoin his comrades within weeks. However, something was wrong with his wrist, and when the doctors discovered it was much worse than they had initially thought, they gave him surgery and sent him home.
"My unit was deployed, and I wasn't doing a lot." Baum said. "I had an overwhelming sense of being worthless. Here I'm home, and my buddies are still fighting."
Baum was told by his case manager at the Fort Bragg's Warrior Transition Bn (WTB) that his packet for the medical discharge board was being started. Exhausted by a seemingly endless cycle of surgery, physical therapy, pain and pain killers, Baum didn't know what to do. "All I really want to do is be infantry," Baum said. "In the Army I feel like I'm doing something with my life," Baum said. Baum was also motivated by a profound sense of duty to his country, he said. "I would rather spend 15 months away from my family, than have something like 9/11 happen again," Baum said. "If I have to come back here every other year, I say it's worth it."
Finally, in August 2008 Baum had his last surgery. After 6 weeks he began to heal, and soon he was doing everything within his ability to get back into shape. He spent a lot of time with Greenwood, who joined him at the WTB after he was injured a 2nd time by getting pinned between 2 vehicles.
When Parrish, who knew Baum from 4-73 Cav., heard that Baum was leaving the WTB in April 2009, he immediately started making phone calls to get him in his unit, Parrish said. "I thought he was a solid Soldier, and saw good things in him," Parrish said. "He cares about Soldiers. To me there's nothing more important than that in an NCO." Baum's favorite part about being an NCO is passing his knowledge and experience down to younger troopers, he said. "I've been through this before," Baum said. "I understand the real danger of what I'm doing."
The next time Baum returns from Afghanistan, he will not only be a leader of men, but also a father of 3. He approaches the enormous task of raising triplets with characteristic calm. "I still don't think I've let that sink in," he said.
