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| Captain John Baker was a B-17 pilot in the 398th Bombardment Group that operated from England. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63090221/john-marion-baker http://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/10885 |
John "Jim" Marion Baker, Sr. never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on September 8, 1919 in Oklahoma. His parents Lemuel and Sara were born in Kansas and Indiana, respectively. His father worked as a fire insurance agent and later as a life insurance salesman. John had one older sister. After attending Oklahoma Military Academy, John was accepted to the US Military Academy at West Point and started there in 1938. He graduated with the class of 1942.
He chose to join the Army Air Forces as a bombardier but switched to serving as a bomber pilot. Upon completion of his flight training, he married Lucy Cunningham in December 1942. John was assigned to the 600th Bombardment Squadron, 398th Bombardment Group, the last B-17 group sent to Europe. He ended up with the rank of captain.
Prior to leaving for England in April 1944, John has the chance to see his newborn son, John Jr. His bomber was named Little John in his honor. Unfortunately, his plane was reassigned and he did not get use it in combat.
The mission for August 8, 1944 was an attack on German troop concentrations south of Caen, normally much preferable to missions over Germany. However, this proved to be a deadly mission. As the formation approached the target, the flak was very heavy. The after action report reported that every single plane was hit by flak. Two minutes from the bomb drop, Captain Baker's plane was hit by flak between the number one and two engines. The wing broke off and the plane spun into a crash. Two men survived, but Captain Baker and the rest of the crew where killed.
The lead plane was also hit, causing it to release its bombs prematurely. Seeing the lead plane release the bombs, all the other planes did the same, resulting in all bombs falling short of the target.
His grave is at Memorial Park Cemetery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His widow remarried and died in 2007.
Last year on this date I profiled US Navy lieutenant Roland Stephenson. You can read about Roland and his West Point graduate brother Glenwood here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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