Columbia war hero to be honored by Army drill sergeant academy at Fort Jackson
On Nov. 5, 1966, Sgt. John F. Baker Jr. was leading a company of the U.S. Army’s 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment to the aid of other soldiers when it was ambushed by Viet Cong troops during the Vietnam War.
When the point man on his column was killed, Baker took the lead and, with another soldier, knocked out two Viet Cong machine gun bunkers. When his comrade was mortally wounded, Baker killed four snipers and led repeated assaults against enemy positions.
Baker would go on to save the lives of eight of his comrades, knock out six Viet Cong machine-gun bunkers and kill 10 enemy soldiers. In 1968, Baker, along with his commanding officer, Capt. Robert F. Foley, received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor in combat.
President Lyndon Johnson presented the awards, saying: “The battlefield is the scarred and the lonely landscape of man’s greatest failure. But it is a place where heroes walk. Today, we honor ... two soldiers who – in the same battle and at the same time – met the surpassing tests of their lives with acts of courage far beyond the call of duty.”
Baker, a Davenport, Iowa, native, retired in 1989 in Columbia and because a computer analyst at Dorn VA Medical Center. He lived in Northeast Columbia until his death in 2012. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
On Nov. 30, the United States Army Drill Sergeant Academy, located at Fort Jackson, will dedicate its barracks in Baker’s honor. The ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. at 9576 Pickens Ave. on Fort Jackson.
This story was originally published October 27, 2017 at 10:32 AM with the headline "Columbia war hero to be honored by Army drill sergeant academy at Fort Jackson."