[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 109 (Thursday, July 22, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6195-S6196]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               REMEMBERING FIRST LIEUTENANT VERNON BAKER

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 1LT 
Vernon Baker, a native of Cheyenne, WY. Our Nation has lost a son of 
Wyoming and hero of World War II.
  First Lieutenant Baker not only fought the fascist Axis powers but he 
also fought to serve in a segregated U.S. Army. Vernon Baker's life 
story is a testament to no door or opportunity can be permanently shut 
in the United States.
  As a young man, Mr. Baker made the decision to serve his country in 
World War II by joining the U.S. Army. He was initially told by Army 
recruiters he could not sign up because he was Black. His determination 
to serve his country was not deterred. Vernon returned to the Cheyenne 
recruiting office and found a recruiter who would sign him up.
  First Lieutenant Baker went on to serve with the 92nd Infantry 
Division's 370th Regiment, an all Black unit in Italy. Throughout his 
World War II service, Mr. Baker was awarded the Bronze Star, Purple 
Heart, and the Distinguished Service Cross. Fifty years later, First 
Lieutenant Baker was awarded the Medal of Honor for his leadership and 
bravery in destroying a number of German positions near Viareggio, 
Italy, almost single handedly.
  I thank Mr. Baker for his service. Mr. Baker is survived by wife 
Heidy, four children, and a grandson.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
First Lieutenant Baker's Medal of Honor citation and an article that 
appeared in the Casper Star Tribune.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record as follows:

       Citation: 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.
                                  ____


                      [From the Associated Press]

                        Medal of Honor Hero Dies


    Wyoming native overcame discrimination, segregation in military

                           (By Rebecca Boone)

       St. Maries, Idaho.--Wyoming native Vernon Baker, who 
     belatedly received the Medal of Honor for his role in World 
     War II, died at his home near St. Maries, Idaho. He was 90.
       Baker died Tuesday of complications of brain cancer, 
     Benewah County Coroner and funeral home owner Ron Hodge said.
       Then-President Bill Clinton presented the nation's highest 
     award for battlefield valor to Baker in 1997. He was one of 
     just seven black soldiers to receive it and the only living 
     recipient.
       ``The only thing that I can say to those who are not here 
     with me is, `Thank you, fellas, well done,' '' Baker told The 
     Washington Post after the ceremony. `` `And I will always 
     remember you.' ''
       In 1944, 2nd Lt. Baker was sent to Italy with a full 
     platoon of 54 men. On April 5, he and his soldiers found 
     themselves behind enemy lines near Viareggio, Italy.
       When concentrated enemy fire from several machine gun 
     emplacements stopped his company's advance, Baker crawled to 
     one 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, Baker attacked two more 
     machine gun nests, killing or wounding the four enemy 
     soldiers occupying these positions. Then he covered the 
     evacuation of his wounded soldiers by occupying an exposed 
     position and drawing the enemy's fire.
       On the following night, Baker voluntarily led a battalion 
     advance through enemy mine fields and heavy fire.
       In all, Baker and his platoon killed 26 Germans and 
     destroyed six machine gun nests, two observer posts and four 
     dugouts.

[[Page S6196]]

       He said later he felt the company commander, who said he 
     was going to get reinforcements, had abandoned his group of 
     men. ``It made me all the more determined to accomplish our 
     mission,'' he told the PBS series ``American Valor.'' 
     ``Because at that time the Army was segregated. It was 
     thought that we were unable to fight.''
       No black soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor during 
     World War II, although Baker did receive the Purple Heart, a 
     Bronze Star and Distinguished Service Cross.
       In 1993, U.S. Army officials contracted Shaw University in 
     Raleigh, N.C., to determine if there was a racial disparity 
     in the way Medal of Honor recipients were selected. The 
     university researchers found that there was, and recommended 
     10 soldiers to receive it. From that list, Pentagon officials 
     picked seven.
       But there was one problem--the statutory limit for 
     presentation had expired. Congress was required to pass 
     legislation that allowed the president to award the Medals of 
     Honor so long after the action.
       Baker was the only recipient still living; the other six 
     soldiers received their awards posthumously, with their 
     medals being presented to family members.
       Baker was initially rebuffed when he tried to join the 
     Army. Baker said in an interview with public television that 
     a recruiter told him that there was no quota for enlisting 
     ``you people.''
       Reflecting on life in a segregated Army unit, he told The 
     Washington Post, ``I was an angry young man. We were all 
     angry. But we had a job to do, and we did it.'' He added, 
     though, that he ``knew things would get better, and I'm glad 
     to say that I'm here to see it.''
       Baker returned to his northern Idaho home after the war. 
     When he received a call telling him he was to receive a Medal 
     of Honor, at first he was astonished. Then he was angry.
       ``It was something that I felt should have been done a long 
     time ago,'' he told Idaho public television. ``If I was 
     worthy of receiving the Medal of Honor in 1945, I should have 
     received it then.''
       Baker called his 1997 memoir ``Lasting Valor.''
       U.S. Rep. Walt Minnick said he met Vernon Baker in the 
     1990s when the soldier spoke at a College of Idaho event. 
     Minnick said he'd been expecting a tough, battle-hardened 
     soldier, but says he was instead struck by Baker's gentle 
     demeanor. Minnick said Baker's valor on the battlefield in 
     Italy was a rebuke of racist policies that dominated the U.S. 
     military into the middle of the last century.
       ``His actions on the front line demonstrates better than 
     words can describe why discrimination and segregation in the 
     military was both unfair and absolutely inconsistent with an 
     effective fighting force,'' Minnick said. ``He demonstrated a 
     degree of courage few people have. He was prepared to give 
     his life for his country--a country in which he was 
     considered a second-class citizen.''
       Baker was born in 1919 in Wyoming. Orphaned as a small 
     child, he was raised by his grandparents in Cheyenne. He was 
     working as a railroad porter when he decided to join the Army 
     in mid-1941, a few months before Pearl Harbor.
       In 2004, Baker underwent emergency surgery to remove a 
     malignant brain tumor. Before he fell ill, he had failed to 
     sign up for benefits from Veterans Affairs and Medicare, not 
     realizing what the requirements were. Community members and 
     politicians in Idaho pitched in to help him get aid for his 
     unpaid medical bills.
       Hodge said Baker continued to battle brain cancer over the 
     next years, and he recently began receiving hospice care at 
     his home. Baker was surrounded by his family when he died 
     Tuesday evening.
       Hodge said Baker's wife, Heidi Baker, plans to have a 
     memorial service in St. Maries but the arrangements have not 
     yet been made. He said Heidi Baker also planned to talk with 
     military officials about possibly having Baker buried at 
     Arlington National Cemetery.
       A war hero, Baker was also a man of peace. After receiving 
     the award, he told a newspaper reporter for the Moscow-
     Pullman Daily News: ``I hope never to see someone else having 
     the Medal of Honor hung around his neck by the president of 
     the United States. You young people coming up, please don't 
     take war as a solution to a problem. God gave you the brains 
     to think and not to use violence as a means to an end.''

                          ____________________