A TRUE AMERICAN HERO

One of seven African Americans to have an earlier award upgraded by a special commission, Vernon J. Baker received the Medal of Honor from President Bill Clinton in 1997. He tearfully and humbly accepted the honor for courageous deeds performed over a half-century before in World War II that had previously earned him the Distinguished Service Cross, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart.

Baker’s regiment landed at Naples, Italy, on 1 August 1944 to support the Fifth Army, which was intent on fighting its way north and penetrating the Gothic Line. Lieutenant Baker became a skilled and valued platoon leader during his first few months in Italy, building a rapport with the men he led on almost nightly patrols.

In October, Baker had a close call while out on a patrol. His platoon, which was attempting to take a house on the side of a hill, lost three men right away. Baker himself was seriously wounded and spent the next two months in the 64th General Hospital in Pisa before returning to his unit. When he got back in December, he was the senior officer in his unit.

On 5 April 1945, it was the 1st Battalion’s turn to make a push forward--this time with Baker’s C Company in the lead. Seventy percent of the men under his command at the time were replacements with no previous combat experience. (National World War II Museum)

According to his Medal of Honor citation, Baker, still a second lieutenant, led 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 German soldiers. Continuing forward, he attacked an enemy observation post and eliminated its two occupants. With the aid of one of his men, Lieutenant Baker attacked two more machine-gun nests, stopping and wounding the four enemy soldiers occupying the positions. He then covered the evacuation of his wounded by occupying an exposed position and drawing the enemy's fire away from them.

The following night, Lieutenant Baker voluntarily led the battalion's advance through enemy minefields and heavy fire toward the division objective.

After World War II, he went to jump school and became a parachutist in the 11th Airborne Div. He subsequently served in the Korean War and retired from the army in 1968. He then spent 20 years working for the American Red Cross. As a widower in 1986, he moved to Idaho to pursue his love of hunting and mountain living. He eventually remarried and lived out the rest of his days in Idaho, where he passed away in July 2010 following a long battle with cancer. Baker was 90 at the time of his death. Lest We Forget.

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Original description and photo courtesy militarytimes.com, U.S. Army Archive, National World War II Museum, and U.S. Army Signal Corps.