| VERNON
BAKER: AMERICAN HERO |
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On
Display: November 15 2003 - December
15, 2003.
Location: Louisiana Memorial
Pavilion |
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VERNON
BAKER: AMERICAN HERO
In March 1994, Vernon Baker received a phone
call that would change his life.
The call was from Dr. Daniel Gibran, a professor
at Shaw University. Dr. Gibran was working
on a study commissioned by the Secretary of
the Army to determine why no African American
soldier had been awarded the Medal of Honor
for action during World War II. Mr. Baker’s
name was on a list of other African American
soldiers who had received the Distinguished
Service Cross (or in some cases lesser decorations)
for actions that would normally been recognized
with the Medal of Honor.
As
a result of the study's recommendation,
seven African American soldiers had their
previous decorations upgraded to the Medal
of Honor. Of the seven soldiers four had
given their lives in the service of their
country, two had passed on since the war
and only Vernon Baker was still alive. In
January 1997, he traveled to Washington,
DC to attend the official award ceremony.
On the 13th of that month, President William
J. Clinton placed the Medal of Honor around
Vernon Baker’s neck in recognition
of his actions on that April day in Italy
fifty-two years earlier. For Vernon Baker
the emotions of the occasion were tempered
by the memory of the nineteen members of
his platoon who had given their lives on
that Italian hill so many years ago. |
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