FReeper Canteen ~ Hall of Heroes: Vernon Baker ~ 05 October 2015

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[Kathy in Alaska]

 

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~ Hall of Heroes ~

Vernon Baker

(Info found here.)

           

On Saturday, July 13th, 2010, another Medal of Honor recipient left us to guard the streets of heaven.  Thank you, sir, for your service to our country.

Vernon Joseph Baker (December 17, 1919 – July 13, 2010) was a United States Army officer who received the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War II. He was awarded the medal for his actions on April 5–6, 1945 near Viareggio, Italy, when he and his platoon killed 26 enemy soldiers and destroyed six machine gun nests, two observer posts and four dugouts. He was the only living black World War II veteran of the seven belatedly awarded the medal of honor when it was bestowed upon him by President William Jefferson Clinton in 1997.

Early life

Baker was born on December 17, 1919, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the youngest of three children. After his parents died in a car accident when he was four, he and his two sisters were raised by their grandparents. His grandfather Joseph S. Baker, a railroad worker in Cheyenne, taught him to hunt in order to feed the family and became "the most influential figure in Vernon's life." His relationship with his grandmother was much more strained, and he spent a few years at the Boys Town orphanage in Nebraska to be away from her.

Baker graduated from high school in his grandfather's hometown of Clarinda, Iowa. He then worked as a railroad porter, a job he despised, until his grandfather's death from cancer in 1939. A series of menial jobs followed until his enlistment in the U.S. Army in mid-1941. At his first attempt to enlist, in April 1941, he was turned away, the recruiter stating "We don't have any quotas for you people." He tried again weeks later with a different recruiter and was accepted; he requested to become a quartermaster but was instead assigned to the infantry.

 

Military service

Baker entered the Army on June 26, 1941, six months prior to the U.S. entry into World War II. He went through training at Camp Wolters, Texas, and after completing Officer Candidate School was commissioned as a second lieutenant on January 11, 1943.

In June 1944, Baker was sent to Italy with the all-black 92nd Infantry Division. He was wounded in the arm in October of that year, hospitalized near Pisa, and in December rejoined his unit in reserve along the Gothic Line. In early spring, 1945, his unit was pulled from the reserves and placed in active combat. On the morning of April 5, he participated in an attack on the German stronghold of Castle Aghinolfi. During the assault, Baker led his heavy weapons platoon through German defenses to within sight of the castle, personally destroying three machine gun nests, two observation posts, two bunkers, and a network of German telephone lines along the way. It was for these actions that he was later awarded the Medal of Honor.

After the end of the war, Baker remained in Europe with the Allied occupation forces until 1947. He later joined the Army Airborne forces and left the military in 1968 as a first lieutenant.

In 1993, a study commissioned by the U.S. Army described systematic racial discrimination in the criteria for awarding medals during World War II. At the time, no Medals of Honor had been awarded to black soldiers who served in World War II. After an exhaustive review of files, the study recommended that several black Distinguished Service Cross recipients have their awards upgraded to the Medal of Honor. On January 13, 1997, President Bill Clinton awarded the medal to seven African American World War II veterans; Baker was the only recipient still living at the time.

Baker's official Medal of Honor citation reads:

For extraordinary heroism in action on 5 and 6 April 1945, near Viareggio, Italy. Then Second Lieutenant Baker demonstrated outstanding courage and leadership in destroying enemy installations, personnel and equipment during his company's attack against a strongly entrenched enemy in mountainous terrain. When his company was stopped by the concentration of fire from several machine gun emplacements, he crawled to one position and destroyed it, killing three Germans. Continuing forward, he attacked an enemy observation post and killed two occupants. With the aid of one of his men, Lieutenant Baker attacked two more machine gun nests, killing or wounding the four enemy soldiers occupying these positions. He then covered the evacuation of the wounded personnel of his company by occupying an exposed position and drawing the enemy's fire. On the following night Lieutenant Baker voluntarily led a battalion advance through enemy mine fields and heavy fire toward the division objective. Second Lieutenant Baker's fighting spirit and daring leadership were an inspiration to his men and exemplify the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.

 

Please remember the Canteen is here to honor, support and entertain our troops and their families.  This is a politics-free zone!  Thanks for helping us in our mission! 

[luvie]

Goooood mornin', Early Birds!
Welcome back, Conor! :)
It rained here!
I'm happy....
....but know some of y'all have gotten too much!
Hope it's not dangerous in your area!
....so you can have a Mahv'lus Monday!
((((hugs))))

[luvie]

Perspective is everything.

To you 75 is warm...to me it’s lovely and cool! LOL!

Oh...mornin’, PRO! (((hugs)))

[PROCON]

Morning LUV, have a great day!

Yes, perspective is everything :-)

Loving it though!

[luvie]

Me, too!!

Right now it’s a lovely cloudy 61. After last summer [and I know you relate to that!], this cool weather is most welcome!

[E.G.C.]

((HUGS))Good afternoon, LUV W. How’s it going?

[luvie]

Howdy, EGC! (((hugs)))

All is well here! I have today and the next 2 days off...Woohoo! It’s lazy cloudy weather, so I am being that! :)

Hope you and Bo are enjoying some nice fall weather. It was beautiful when we were up there! Any lake jaunts lately?

[SandRat]

[E.G.C.]

Well, Bo found another turtle to play with yesterday. We had a great time out there.

I'm going to take the pickup to Billingsley Ford in Duncan tomorrow. They're going to patch up the oil leak in the front and left rear engine. They may keep the pickup overnight to check on the issue of it taking three turns to start. We'll see how things work out with that.

It's been drizzling on and off here in Comanche OK. Quite cool here today.

[luvie]

I hope someone will come get you so you don’t have a very long wait for the pickup!

Glad Bo had some turtle fun! The cooler weather makes it much nicer for chasing. Though turtles don’t move that fast. LOL!

[luvie]

Yes?

[luvie]

LOL! Thank goodness I have the day off! :)

[Kathy in Alaska]

So happy that your baby’s wedding reception went off well. Hurrah for multiple canopies!

Good luck with the new person and the training. ((HUGS))

[beachn4fun]

Good morning Ma ((HUGS))
Howz things in the northern state?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good morning, beachy...((HUGS))...at work and working hard...today we print paychecks. BUT...harder work on Monday and Tuesday, and questions getting answered early, I’m in great shape this morning, and close to being done and ready. Just got a couple emails with changes, but easy ones.

Still raining off and on here. We had 2 inches of snow last week, but rain since. The lawn guys mowed up 6 trillion leaves yesterday, and I swept a million off the desk, for the third day in a row, and the trees in the back yard are getting closer to being naked. It’s coming, but not yet. LOL!

Hope the training is going well and the replacement will stick. Have a wonderful day!!