World War II Honoree

Robert Lincoln Baker

Branch of Service

U.S. Army Air Force

Hometown

Denver, Colorado

Honored By

Orville L. Kline

Rank: Sergeant. On July 27, 1942, he entered the United States Army Air Corps with his induction at Denver, Colorado. After the completion of Boot Camp, he was accepted into the Aviation Flight Training Program. Served as a B-17 ‘Flying Fortress’ Bomber Flight Engineer/Top Turret Gunner in the European Theater of Operations. Assigned to the 358th Bomber Squadron, 303rd Bomber Group; United States Eighth ‘Mighty Eighth’ Army Air Force. His squadron was based at the Royal Air Force Station Molesworth in Cambridgeshire, England. Killed in action during a bombing raid to Landsberg, Germany on Wednesday, July 10, 1944 when his bomber was hit by German Artillery Flak. The aircraft crashed in the area of Landkreis, Bavaria. He was unable to exit his aircraft and buried in a battlefield cemetery. After the cessations of hostilities in Europe, his remains were returned to his family for burial with interment in the Crown Hill Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. He received the following awards posthumously: Air Medal and the Purple Heart. The Air Medal awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. This American Patriot was awarded the Purple Heart, as he so gallantly gave his life for his country.