This Black WWII Soldier Waited 50 Years to Obtain the Medal of Honor

Vernon Baker’s Army profession virtually by no means occurred. He first tried to enlist in April 1941 in his hometown of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and the recruiter informed the younger Black man that “we have no quotas for you folks.”

Fortuitously for the boys in his future platoon, Baker did not take no for a solution and tried once more a number of weeks later with a distinct recruiter and was accepted. Nevertheless, that recruiter ignored Baker’s request to grow to be a quartermaster, and he was assigned to infantry.

He was later “volunteered” for officer coaching as a result of the Army wanted Black officers to steer segregated models into battle. Baker was as much as the duty and was assigned as a second lieutenant to the 92nd Infantry Division, one of many all-Black divisions popularly referred to as the Buffalo Troopers.

In April 1945, Baker led his weapons platoon in an assault of Fortress Aghinolfi in northern Italy as Allied forces had been transferring to take the nation from the German military. Baker took out three enemy machine-gun positions, an remark publish and a dugout throughout a daylong battle. Baker killed 9 of the enemy in the course of the battle.

Baker’s firm commander nominated him for a Distinguished Service Cross, and the hero served for almost three a long time earlier than retiring from the Army in 1968. He then labored for the Purple Cross for 20 years.

Through the Clinton Administration, a examine commissioned by the Army decided that systemic racism affected selections about whether or not Black service members had been awarded medals. A assessment of recordsdata led to seven Medals of Honor. Baker was the one recipient nonetheless residing, and President Clinton awarded him the Medal of Honor on Jan. 13, 1997. Baker lived till age 90 and died in 2010.

Baker’s story is being informed in “Medal of Honor: Vernon Baker,” the most recent situation of the Affiliation of the USA Army’s graphic novel sequence. You possibly can view or obtain a free copy at www.ausa.org/baker.

In its present 2022 sequence, AUSA may even launch graphic novels about Ranger commander Ralph Puckett; Tom Custer, the Civil Struggle soldier who was the primary to obtain the Medal of Honor twice; and Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart, the Delta Operators who gave their lives within the Black Hawk Down incident.

Associated: This Native American Earned the Medal of Honor for Holding Off a Chinese language Assault in Korea

Associated: The First Medal of Honor Went to an Army Soldier Who Stole a Accomplice Practice

Associated: This WWII Spymaster Obtained a Medal of Honor for WWI Heroism

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