Medical Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
Killed in action on 27 Nov 1950, near Hill 1221 when the CCF ambushed his unit as it attempted to travel from Hudong-ni to the P’ungnyuri Inlet.
Maj. Baido’s remains were never recovered. He is classified as MIA with his case “Deferred.”
He is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, as well as the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
James Baido was born 14 Sep 1918 in the Sagada Mountain Province near Bontoc on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. He was a member of the Igorot people, known today as the Cordilleran peoples. Shortly after his birth his mother died, and he was adopted by an American Missionary from Baltimore named Eveline Diggs. Retiring in 1936, Eveline brought James to Baltimore and committed herself to providing the best life and opportunities for James. His post high school education began at Trinty College in Hartford, CT followed by undergraduate studies and dental school at the University of Maryland. He became a naturalized citizen on 29 Nov 1943.
After graduating college, James enlisted as a private in the Army on 27 Jul 1943, entering the University of Maryland Dental School soon thereafter, graduating in 1946. Deployed to Korea in the first year of the war, Maj. Baido would be assigned as surgeon, rather than a dentist, with the Medical Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
On November 27, 1950, the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), tasked with replacing the 5th Marine Regiment on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, arrived at the P’ungnyuri Inlet. That night, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a massive surprise attack against the soldiers and Marines at the inlet. Maj. Baido was killed on November 28, 1950, near Hill 1221 when the CCF ambushed his unit as it attempted to travel from Hudong-ni to the P’ungnyuri Inlet. Tactical conditions on the battlefield prevented the immediate recovery of his body, and his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. (Source: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)
Maj. Baido would posthumously be awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Medical Badge, 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.
Eveline Diggs, his adoptive mother, would pass on 22 Dec 1966 in Baltimore at the age of 91. Eveline is buried in the family lot at Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore, MD. In January 2024, we were successful in obtaining an “In Memory Of” marker from the Veterans Administration to place alongside Eveline and the others of his adoptive family.
You Are Not Forgotten
