Baker, Vernon Joseph

Source:

 African American National Biography

Baker, Vernon Joseph

(17 Dec. 1919–13 July 2010),

soldier and Medal of Honor recipient, was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Manuel Caldera and Beulah Baker. After the deaths of his parents, Vernon and his sisters, Irma and Katherine, were raised by their maternal grandparents, Joseph Samuel Baker, a retired brakeman for the Union Pacific Railroad, and Dora Lucas. Although his grandparents never officially adopted him, Vernon took the surname Baker and did not know his original surname until later in life. Baker was educated at various elementary and secondary schools, including two years at Father Flanagan's Boys Home in Omaha, Nebraska. Baker finally earned his high school diploma at Clarinda, Iowa, in 1939.

After graduation, Baker returned to Cheyenne, where he found work at the army depot at night doing maintenance, repair, and cleaning jobs. Baker was rejected on his first attempt to join the army. Finally in June 1942 he enlisted and was shipped to Fort Walters, Texas. While in Texas, Baker worked as the company supply clerk and was promoted from private first class to sergeant. His commanding officer noticed Baker's ability as a supply sergeant and assigned him to Officer Candidate School in Fort Benning, Georgia.

Following officer training, Baker was sent to the 370th Infantry Regiment as a second lieutenant and rifle platoon leader and was stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. In October 1943 Baker was reassigned to the 360th Regimental Combat Team of the 92nd Infantry Division and was sent to Italy. In August 1944 his unit joined General Mark Clark's Fifth Army and engaged a veteran German army in fierce combat. Lacking proper equipment and training, the typical enlisted man held only a fourth-grade education, and the 92nd Infantry Division suffered a casualty rate of almost 25 percent from August 1944 until the final German surrender in Italy on 2 May 1945.

After nearly eighteen months of duty in Italy, Baker's platoon was ordered to assault Hill X and Castle Aghinolfi nearly three miles behind the vaunted German Gothic Line on 5 April 1945. During this action the platoon suffered a nearly 60 percent casualty rate. Baker was ordered to withdraw his battered platoon but was unable to do so because of intense German bombardment. Rather, he chose to fight the Germans almost single-handedly in order to save as many of his men as possible, and in the process he destroyed one machine-gun nest and a German observation tower. Along with another platoon member, Baker smashed two more gun emplacements and drew enemy fire away from attempts to withdraw his decimated unit.

The following morning, on 6 April 1945, Baker led the 360th and 361st Regimental Combat Teams through mine fields near Viareggio, Italy, to capture both of the original objectives of the mission. For these actions and the injuries he suffered while undertaking them Baker was awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star, and the Distinguished Service Cross.

The 92nd Infantry Division pulled out of Italy in late 1945, but Baker remained there, staying in the army despite losing his officer's commission because he lacked a college degree. By the time Baker returned to Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1947 he had attained the rank of master sergeant and worked as a recruiting photographer. While in Lincoln he considered using the GI Bill to attend the University of Nebraska but instead chose to join the Eleventh Airborne, an all-black division. Baker trained at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he earned his jump wings and completed the army's noncommissioned officer school. Baker was promoted to first sergeant and assigned to Company K, 505th Infantry of the famed 82nd Airborne Division.

With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea in 1950, Baker volunteered for a tour of duty. He was denied because of his status as a Distinguished Service Cross winner but was later repromoted to lieutenant because of the wartime demand for officers. President Harry Truman had ordered the military desegregated in 1948, and Baker became one of the first black officers to command an integrated company. With the Korean armistice in 1953, Baker was mustered out of the airborne to the signal corps with his officer status revoked again.

After the war Baker was stationed in Tucson, Arizona, where he met Fern V. Brown, whom he married in June 1953. Brown was divorced and had twin four-year-old daughters, and she and Baker had one daughter, LaVerne, in December 1954 and adopted another daughter, Larise, in Korea in 1955. After returning from Korea, Baker was stationed at Fort Ord, California, where he served until he was transferred to Germany in 1967. Baker retired from the army in August 1968.

After retiring, Baker worked as a loan officer and an assistant field director with the American Red Cross. He was sent to Vietnam in 1969, where he worked in the field at Pleiku and Da Nang. Baker continued to work for the Red Cross until 1986. He retired after the death of his wife and moved to Spokane, Washington, so that he could pursue his lifelong love of big-game hunting. Baker was married a second time in 1993 to Heidy Pawlik, a German immigrant.

For his actions in Italy, Baker was awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for military service, on 17 January 1997 by President Bill Clinton. Baker was one of only seven African Americans to receive this honor for their World War II service. At the time of the ceremony, Baker was the only recipient still living. The six other African Americans posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor were Private George Watson, Sergeant Edward A. Carter Jr., Private Willy F. James Jr., Sergeant Ruben Rivers, First Lieutenant Charles L. Thomas, and First Lieutenant John Fox.

Baker died of brain cancer at the age of 90, outside of St. Maries, Idaho.

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