[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 129 (Thursday, September 23, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1739-E1740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




HONORING THE LIFE OF LT. VERNON J. BAKER, U.S. ARMY CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL 
                           OF HONOR RECIPIENT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 23, 2010

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, it brings me sadness and honor to pay 
final tribute to LT Vernon J. Baker, United States Army. He passed away 
on Tuesday, July 13, 2010, at the age of 90, due to complications of 
brain cancer at his home near St. Manes, Idaho. He will be laid to rest 
at Arlington National Cemetery on September 24, 2010.
  Vernon Baker, a black U.S. soldier, belatedly received the Medal of 
Honor for his World War II battlefield valor after historians concluded 
he had been wrongly denied the military's top award because of racial 
prejudice.
  Baker, who was born in 1919 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and orphaned as a 
small child, was raised by his grandparents in Cheyenne. While working 
as a railroad porter, he decided to join the U.S. Army in mid-1941, a 
few months before Pearl Harbor. 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.'' Undaunted, 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.
  In 1944, Second Lieutenant Baker was sent to Italy with a full 
platoon of 54 men, assigned to the all-black 92nd Infantry Division. 
Despite being wounded in the arm in October of that year and 
hospitalized near Pisa, he rejoined his unit in reserve along the 
Gothic Line in December.
  On April 5, during his company's attack against a strongly entrenched 
enemy in mountainous terrain near Viareggio, Italy, 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. In all, 
Baker and his platoon killed 26 Germans and destroyed six machine gun 
nests, two observer posts, and four dugouts.
  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. It was after these 
years of service that Baker returned to his northern Idaho home.
  President Bill Clinton presented the Medal of Honor, 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 other six soldiers received their awards posthumously.
  Due to the racial and social strife prevalent in the 1940s, 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. Reflecting on life in a segregated Army unit, Baker 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 that he ``knew things 
would get better, and I'm glad to say that I'm here to see it.''
  Baker's actions on the front line demonstrated better than words can 
describe why discrimination and segregation in the military was both 
unfair and absolutely inconsistent with an effective fighting force. 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,'' said U.S. Representative Walt Minnick.
  Vernon J. Baker was a great American hero who will forever be 
remembered as someone who overcame unfair barriers and prejudice to 
change the course of history. He will be greatly missed; however, his 
legacy will live on as a source of inspiration for generations to come. 
I extend my sincere condolences to his family in the wake of this 
tremendous loss and share their enormous pride in all that he 
accomplished.

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