Rank and Organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company C, 370th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Infantry Division.
Home of Record: Cheyenne Wyoming
Place and Date: Near Viareggio, Italy, 5-6 April 1945

Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty in action on 5 and 6 April 1945, Lt. Baker advanced at the head of his weapons platoon, along with Company C's three rifle platoons, toward their objective; Castle Aghinolfi - a German mountain strong point on the high ground just east of the coastal highway and about two miles from the 370th Infantry Regiment's line of departure. Moving more rapidly than the rest of the company, Lt. Baker and about 25 men reached the south side of a draw some 250 yards from the castle within two hours. In reconnoitering for a suitable position to set up a machine gun, Lt. Baker observed two cylindrical objects pointing out of a slit in a mount at the edge of a hill. Crawling up and under the opening, he stuck his M-1 into the slit and emptied the clip, killing the observation post's two occupants. Moving to another position in the same area, Lt. Baker stumbled upon a well-camouflaged machine gun nest, the crew of which was eating breakfast. He shot and killed both enemy soldiers. After Capt. John F. Runyon, Company C's Commander, joined the group, a German soldier appeared from the draw and hurled a grenade which failed to explode. Lt. Baker shot the enemy soldier twice as he tried to flee. Lt. Baker then went down into the draw alone. There he blasted open the concealed entrance to another dugout with a hand grenade, shot one German soldier who emerged after the explosion, tossed another grenade into the dugout and entered firing his submachine gun, killing two more Germans. As Lt. Baker climbed back out of the draw, enemy machine gun and mortar fire began to inflict heavy casualties among the group of 25 soldiers, killing or wounding about two-thirds of them. When expected reinforcements did not arrive, Capt. Runyon ordered a withdrawal in two groups. Lt. Baker volunteered to cover the withdrawal of the first group, which consisted of mostly walking wounded, and to remain to assist in the evacuation of the more seriously wounded. During the second group's withdrawal, Lt. Baker, supported by covering fire from one of his platoon members, destroyed two machine gun positions (previously bypassed during the assault) with hand grenades. In all, Lt. Baker accounted for nine dead enemy soldiers, elimination of three machine gun positions, an observation post, and a dugout. On the following night, Lt. Baker voluntarily led a battalion advance through enemy mine fields and heavy fire toward the division objective. Lt. Baker's fighting spirit and daring leadership were an inspiration to his men and exemplify the highest traditions of the military service.1 End of Citation

Vernon was born on 17 December 1919 in Cheyenne Wyoming. His parents died in a car crash when he was 4 years old and his maternal grandparents became surrogate parents for him and his 2 sisters. Although never officially adopted, Vernon took the name Baker. He learned when he enlisted in the Army that his family name was Caldera.

Grandma ran a boarding house for blacks in a segregated Cheyenne. Grandpa was chief brakeman for the Union Pacific railroad.  His sister Cass taught him the alphabet and how to sound out words. Books were hard to come by and magazines scrounged from trashcans were a primary source of reading material. Eventually he learned to read well enough that he was made a deacon at church. It also advanced him to the 3rd grade the first day of 2nd grade. "You read too well for my class"2 he was told.

Grandpa taught him to hunt and one Christmas presented him with a .22 cal Remington rifle. He was now able to help keep food on the table.  School included a stay in Boys Town. High School was in Iowa where he graduated with honors and lettered in basketball, track and football. He was also a halfback on the football team. He worked off and on for the railroad but quit after his grandparents died and moved in with his sister.

The idea of a wife and family was appealing but unemployment was a barrier. The army seemed to be the answer. His first attempt at enlisting was rebuffed. "We don’t got no quotas for you people."2  A month later he tried again and this time there was a different recruiter. Vernon requested the Quartermasters, the Recruiter wrote Infantry. It didn’t matter; he had a job. Cheyenne was segregated but that did not prepare him for what was to come.

He left for Basic training at Camp Wolters Texas on June 26, 1941. When the train passed through Junction City, Kansas, a porter appeared & escorted him to the blacks car…up front by the engine where it was hot and sooty. Even the bus that met him was a "hey nigger…get to the back of the bus"2 affair.

When he prepared to protest he was stopped by a fellow black and warned that justice for a black in this part of the country was often "a tree and a rope."2 He was south of the Mason-Dixon. Black waiting rooms, restrooms, drinking fountains, cafés, etc., etc., etc.

After Camp Wolters with its alkali, chiggers, more alkali, and lye soap, he went to Ft. Huachuca AZ. The day after arriving, while in formation, the company was asked if anybody could type. The 'never volunteer' advice flashed through his mind but he raised his hand anyway…and promptly became the Company Clerk of Co D, 25th Inf Regiment. It was now October 1941. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to Supply Sergeant.

When the US declared war on Japan, all NCOs received another promotion. He was now a Staff Sergeant. Most of the other black soldiers were illiterate and resented younger men with High School education’s promoted ahead of them. Baker's reading ability got him in trouble, he was beaten up.

After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, he was ordered to apply for OCS. The papers were already filled out, he was told to 'sign here'. OCS was at Ft. Benning Georgia. His first assignment was at Camp Rucker Alabama as a security officer. The Army decided to gather up "every black soldier…[they] could throw together in one spot"2 and Baker returned to Ft. Huachuca.

It was now 1943 and he was in the 370th Combat Team, attached to the 1st Armored Division, a temporary home until the rest of the all-black 92nd Infantry Division was moved from Arizona to Italy [in 1944]. Blacks were deemed cowards, incapable of anything much less combat. They were commanded by southern whites because they knew ‘how to handle those blacks’2. By 1944 white mothers were angry that their sons were dying and the blacks were not involved. So, it was time for ‘black boys to go get killed’2, so said the Chief of Staff of the 92d Inf Div.

He sailed to Italy from New York via North Africa on the U.S.S. Mariposa, a luxury liner turned troop ship in the spring of 1944.

"Our mission was to push the German's out of the northernmost third of Italy before winter"2 [of '44]. Beyond pushing the Germans out of the mountains, they were also supposed to tie down the maximum number of enemy troops so they couldn’t be sent to other major fronts. A similar strategy had failed the previous winter.

'Reality was they watched our every move & sucked us in. They’d fall back, we advanced, they closed in and kicked the stuffing out of us. Any advances were measured in city blocks.'

He was a buffalo soldiers & wore a shoulder patch with a black buffalo on an OD green background. The Germans (and some white American soldiers) told the Italians that blacks had tails & ate children.

In October 1944 he was wounded in the wrist. It required surgery & physical therapy, which took him out of action for 2 months, and he learned that even hospitals were segregated. Although it wasn’t common practice he was sent back to his old platoon. There was a new Commanding Officer (CO), a black who made Baker the Executive Officer.

Early in 1945 Baker went on a mission which earned him a Bronze Star. It held little meaning for him though, white officers were awarded the Bronze Star so often it was known as the ‘white officers good conduct medal’2.  Castle Aghinolfi {The Star on the map} anchored one leg of what was known as the 'Triangle of Death'2. "It ruled the mountain passes on the western end of the Gothic Line and was almost atop...the route we needed to travel."2 If the Gothic Line was to be broken and the Germans pushed out of Italy, the castle had to be taken, it couldn't be gone around.

The other two legs of the triangle were Mounts Folgorito & Carchio and all three had communication links to artillery, mortars, & howitzers. It was the way in & the Germans knew it. Barbed wire & mine fields forced any attacker into the German line of fire. "The Germans could drop a mortar in a man’s hip pocket. And often did."2

The first two attempts to take the castle happened while he was in the hospital. The 3rd attempt was in Feb '45. It too failed. The 4th attempt involved Baker's group. Baker’s tenure as senior officer came to an end with the arrival of a new white CO, Capt. Runyon, who had little combat experience. Baker was bumped back to Platoon Leader and reassigned to the weapons platoon. Then word came that the next assault on the castle would begin on April 5th.

The 442 RCT & 100th Inf Bn, both Japanese-American (Nisei) groups were to attack the two legs of the Triangle, Baker's group drew the castle. At 3:30 a.m. Baker's group of 25, short 11 men due to casualties and lack of replacements, headed out. Overall the company was short 70 men. At 4:45 a.m. the Allied artillery began shelling as it had done all week so the Germans wouldn't know that this day was any different. When it stopped, they began the move.

What happened next is best described in Baker's Citation. What it doesn’t say is that Baker cut many of the German communication lines. Neither does it say that when Runyon said he was going for reinforcements, he was in fact running away. He had panicked during the heat of battle and fled to a small stone shed.

The battle began well but soon turned sour. Attempts to call in Allied artillery went unheeded, nobody believed they had advanced 3 miles behind enemy lines.

German mortars came instead. The battle was fierce. When Baker finally found Runyon, the attack had done what previous assaults hadn’t and the castle was within conquering distance. Runyon’s promised reinforcements never arrived because once back to safety, he told everybody not to bother, the situation was hopeless.

The Germans renewed their mortar attacks and even sent a group out masquerading as medics carrying wounded on stretchers. The wounded were in fact machineguns.  The battle was long, bloody and hopeless. With no reinforcements and almost completely out of ammunition, there was only one recourse - withdrawal. Nineteen of Baker's men were unable to do so, and Baker had their dog tags in his pocket. The day's events were so overwhelming that once he and his remaining men were back to a ‘safe’ area, he was violently ill. It was well after 5:00 p.m. before he headed back to the Command Post.

He was summoned to the Battalion Commander and reported the days events. His Bn Co thanked him for the good work. He then went to Regimental Headquarters to turn in the dog tags he still carried in his pocket. Try as he could, he could not look at the names on the tags. Putting the names with the faces made the day's price too high. His Reg't Co gave him a severe ‘ass chewing’2 for not wearing his helmet and ordered him to report at 4:30 a.m. the next day as a scout for the advance to the castle.

They followed the same route and his men were still there where they had fallen, minus their boots and socks, which the Germans had pilfered. His men had "cleared the way for an all white company to go all the way to the castle without firing a shot."2  Baker's platoon never "heard another hostile gunshot."2 The Nisei dislodged the enemy from above the castle, artillery moved forward and eventually the Gothic Line was breached. In May, Germany surrendered.

Then it was time to regroup and join the invasion of Japan...and he was promoted to 1st Lt. In June he was told he had earned the Distinguished Service Cross. A DSC for a black Lieutenant, couldn’t be! His superiors fought it but he received the award on the 4th of July 1945 in Viareggio Italy.

The American army had little use for its black soldiers but the French "awarded the Croix de Guerre, the Cross of War, to every member of three all-black regiments."2 The free Polish Gov’t awarded him the Polish Cross of Valor and the Italians awarded him the Croce di Guerra al Valore, the Cross of Valor.2 These 3 meant more to him than the DSC. Baker had also been awarded the Combat Infantry Badge but the army withdrew the supplemental pay for it after Germany surrendered.

He never made it to Japan. In Aug '45, he transferred to the Quartermaster Corp after Japan had surrendered and the 92d was deactivated and sent home. Late in 1946, he to was sent back to the U.S. on the U.S.S. Henry P. Stevens.

His first station was Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. He attempted to keep his officer status but as he did not have a college degree it was not to be. He debated about getting out and going to college but no job and no money was not appealing. He became a photographer with the rank of Master Sergeant. He then joined an all-black airborne Battalion and was now at Ft. Bragg North Carolina. Again racism raised his head, a white Colonel refused to believe that the DSC on his uniform was valid and demanded he remove it. "Ain’t no nigger I ever saw deserved no Distinguished Service Cross."2

When the war broke out in Korea in 1950 he was made a lieutenant again, but his request for Korea was denied. The DCS made him to highly decorated to risk loosing in battle, he was sent to Alaska.  In 1948 the army was ordered desegregated by President Truman but it didn’t trickle down to Lt. Baker until September 10, 1951.

1st Lt. Vernon Baker, 11th Airborne, Ft. Campbell KY, 1951

At Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, he was promoted from Platoon Leader to Company Commander, much to the chagrin of the white 2d Lt. in the CO office.

When the Korean Conflict ended he left the Airborne and went back to the Signal Corps and photography. He still did not have a college degree and had to once again relinquish his officer status. He was back at Ft. Huachucca as the post Photo Lab Chief. It was there that he met Fern who became his wife in June 1953.

Future assignments included Fort Ord and an unaccompanied tour in Korea. After his tour in Korea he returned to Ft. Ord and was assigned to Co A, 4th Bn, 1st Bde, a training brigade, as their First Sergeant. The fall of 1967 found him as a HQ Company First Sergeant in Mainz Germany with the 8th Airborne Brigade. (A paperwork snafu still listed him as jump qualified…at age 48.)

"Combat, racism, and beatings couldn’t chase me from the Army. Drugs and desertion did."2 It was the middle of the Viet Nam war. Desertions were skyrocketing; drug use was rampant. He began making his morning rounds with a .45 for protection. It was too much.  In August 1968, at age 48, he made his last airplane jump & at Ft. Hamilton NY, with 27 years and 6 months of service, retired. Retired pay was less than $300 per month. He went to work for the Red Cross...which sent him to Viet Nam in 1969.

A year later he was back at Ft. Ord. He now had time to pursue his interests...hunting. He learned of a place in Idaho called Red Ives Peak. In 1979 he scouted out the area.  In 1986 after his wife’s sudden passing, he sought a diversion. Of all of the places he had gone hunting, nothing compared to Red Ives. It reminded him of the happy parts of his childhood and he began thinking about a cabin in the woods. He moved to Idaho in May 1987. In 1989 he met Heidy Pawlik. A long distance romance (Pennsylvania) began and they married in 1993.

Then the bombshell. A study had been commissioned by the Secretary of the Army as to why no black WWII veterans had received the Medal of Honor. Those who had received the DSC were being reviewed. Baker was satisfied with the DSC and did not want to relive "the personal hell...the most traumatic, horrifying day’s of my life."2  But the Army was persistent so he decided to let the world know that his men had accomplished something despite being abandoned, doubted, and embarrassing white commanders who claimed black soldiers couldn’t cut it.

After 2 days of intense questioning, Baker was shown recently declassified reports written by Runyon and other 92d Inf Div commanders. They were repulsive not to mention humiliating. Runyon had taken credit for all the success of that day in April 1945. His report had also been altered and backdated to fit the views of his superiors...blacks were incapable of combat. Baker also learned for the first time that he had been nominated for The Medal of Honor but it had been blocked. Even Runyon had been nominated for one but had received the DSC instead.

Finally in 1996, Baker received word that he and 6 other black WWII veterans were to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The other 6 were deceased. Legislation waiving the 1952 deadline for WWII soldiers to receive honors was signed. Finally, after 50 years, recognition for black soldiers.

"History has been made whole today."

A presentation date was scheduled and on January 13, 1997, in the East Room of the White House, President Clinton placed the Medal of Honor around his neck.

In April 1997, 52 years after the battle, Vernon Baker returned to Italy. The response was overwhelming. Thousands of people came to see him, embrace him...thank him, even the president of Italy. He also visited Castle Aghinolfi from the German side. "We never had a chance. And yet we did it"2 

Mr. Baker and his wife live in north Idaho, where the people are friendly, the elk hunting is good, the mailbox is a mile away, and the scenery is incredible.

Editors' Notes: This article barely touches the surface of the story of Mr. Vernon J. Baker. In 1997, he published a book entitled "Lasting Valor". It goes into much more detail than is possible here.  A very special thank you to Mr. Baker for granting an interview for this article. Footnotes in the above article are as follows:

1 USA Congressional Medal of Honor Recipients and Their Official Citations
2 Lasting Valor
3 USNews.com