INFANTRY OFFICER CANDIDATE

   
   

WE REMEMBER...

   
   

OCS 28-69

   
   

62nd Company

   
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This page is dedicated to our brothers who

were part of OC28-69 62nd Company and

who have passed from this life to the next.

   
         
   

“Remember”

Our Fallen Brothers

Who died as a result of Hostile Fire

Vietnam War

1st Lt. Joe Hearne Rufty, D Co, 2nd Bn, 501st Inf. Rgt, 101 ABN Div 23 Feb 1945-29 January 1970, Salisbury,NC., 4th Platoon

1st Lt. Joseph Robert Ryan Jr.,Mobile Advisory Team 68, Advisory Teams 41 and 61, MACV, 19 July 1946-28 March 1971, Bedford,Ohio, 1st Platoon

1st Lt. William Ray Goolsby,Det B-50,(Project Delta),CCS,Macv,SOG-5th SF Group,USARV 29 Sept 1946-15 Sept 1970, Dallas,Texas, 4th Platoon

1st Lt. Robert Allen Harrison,Recon Plt, E Co, 2nd Bn, 1st Inf,196th Inf BDE 19 Sept 1946-02 January 1971, died as a result of wounds, incident date, 29 December 1970, 5th Platoon

Demilitarized Zone Korea

John P. Luzis-5th Platoon

 Deceased - "Lives Well Lived"

Stuart A. Forbes, 3rd Platoon (Age 64; 01/04/2010)

David Ivory, 4th Platoon (age 62; 03/09/2007; Past City Manager Fort Worth, TX)

Emmett Pat O’Callaghan, 4th Platoon

Ralph L. Wheaton, 4th Platoon

Wayne F. Morys, 5th Platoon

David Cutlar Sunderland, 5th Platoon

Gerald L. Kubly, 6th Platoon

Ralph Rodheim, 3rd Platoon (Age 72; 02/05/17; Business Entrepreneur Newport Beach, CA)

Thomas S Werlinich, 3rd Platoon (Age Unk; 06/30/2020

 

 (Note: To Update this list, email details of any OC69-28 class member loss to webmaster - bob@bobbrewster.com)

 

   
   

JOHN F. BAKER

   
   

   
   

Medal of Honor Recipient JOHN F. BAKER, JR was assigned to the 62nd Company 1st Platoon upon his return from Vietnam. He did not graduate from OCS with us but left to continue his career as a non-commissioned officer.

Below John is pictured receiving the Medal of Honor from President Lyndon Johnson. Standing beside him is his company commander, Cpt. Robert F. Foley, who also received the Medal of Honor for the same action. John was 5'2" and his company commander was 6'7". What a team!

Here are some comments from our fellow OCS classmates who remember John pictured below as he was when we all came together at Ft. Benning, GA.

WORDS FROM MIKE PRESCOTT -

"Thanks for the info on John F. Baker, Jr.. Sorry to learn he passed away.
 
I do remember him while he was with us in OCS at Benning. Looking at him with his short stature ( I believe he was about 5'2"or 5'3", maybe less ) & his mild demeanor, you would have never guessed that he was a Medal of Honor recipient nor the unbelievable actions he performed in heavy combat to earn it.
 
I remember once he opened up & talked to us about what he did. He was very modest about it. We all sat there in awe ( we were probably thinking, " Holy crap!! Is this what I have to look forward to??" ). He said he couldn't remember all the details, that it was sort of blurry--- in his mind it all happened quickly. I do remember him saying he was just trying to stay alive & save his buddies & that the only way to do it was to destroy those three machine gun bunkers & kill the snipers. Unbelievable. What courage.
 
The other thing I remember about John was that he had an Army buddy of his from Viet Nam drop by 62nd Company one day to say hello & pay him a visit----he just happened to be a General!!! I believe he was a one star & he arrived completely unannounced in a staff car. Parked right out front. Our CO & all the Tac Officers were running around & jumping through hoops!!! Loved it.
 
Thanks again, Jerry. Brought back some memories. We definitely had a special group of young men in the 62nd!!!"
 

Mike Prescott

3rd Platoon

 

WORDS FROM HENRY L. "HANK" BERCHAK -

 

"John was in the First Platoon and he was a Medal Of Honor winner. At times he struggled academically and I was assigned to tutor him. He had a BG who came around nearly weekly to check on his progress. Every year the living MOH winners are invited to the Indianapolis 500. John went and never returned. We inventoried his belongings, packed them and turned them into the Orderly Room. I spent over 8 years of Enlisted (E-7) and never did understand why the Army didn't give John a direct or battlefied commission. John was allowed to return to his Enlisted rank of SGT E-5 and went on to finish his career as a MSG E-8."

 

Hank Berchak

1st Platoon

 

   
   

Obituary Published South Carolina's The State Newspaper Jan 23, 2012

John F. Baker Jr.

COLUMBIA - A Funeral service for MSG John Franklin Baker, Jr., US Army (Ret.), 66, will be held on Friday January 27, 2012 at 1:00 pm at Main Post Chapel on Fort Jackson. Interment, with full military honors, will be in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. The family will receive friends from 5-7 pm on Thursday, January 26, 2012 at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel.

MSG Baker, husband of Mrs. Donnell Brazil Baker, died Friday, January 20, 2012. Born October 30, 1945 in Davenport, Iowa, he was a son of the late John Franklin Baker, Sr. and Mary Isabelle Enderton Baker. He graduated from Moline High School in 1966, and later took courses at the University of Hawaii. Baker entered the U.S. Army in Moline, Illinois, serving as a Private in "A" Company, 2nd Battalion of the 27th Infantry, known as The "Wolfhounds". He served 300 missions as a "tunnel rat" in Vietnam, a soldier who entered Viet Cong tunnels searching out the enemy and destroying their caches of war material. In Vietnam, Baker took part in Operation Attleboro which began in September 1966. On November 5, 1966, Baker and his unit were called to assist another squad who were taking enemy fire. En route, his Company began to take fire and lost their lead soldier. Together with two other soldiers, Baker took over the head of the column and assisted in destroying two enemy positions. They were moving to take two others when a hand grenade knocked Baker off of his feet. With the two other soldiers wounded, Baker "single handedly" destroyed another bunker before recovering his comrades. Despite taking further fire from enemy bunkers and snipers, Baker continually fell back to replenish ammunition and take back several wounded. For these actions, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.

Baker made the military his career, retiring in 1989 after serving twenty four years of service for a country that he loved.

MSG Baker began working as a computer analyst at the Dorn Veterans Hospital in Columbia and retired after fifteen years of service. In 2008, the I-280 Bridge, connecting Davenport, Iowa with Rock Island, Illinois, was renamed the Sergeant John F. Baker, Jr. Bridge in his honor. In addition to serving as the Vice-President of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, he served as a member on the Nation's Monuments and Cemeteries Committee. John was a member of the VFW, American Legion , Vietnam Veterans of America, 25th Infantry Division Association and the 27th Infantry Regiment Historical Society. As a member of the National Infantry Association, Order of St. Maurice, he was a recipient of the Primicerius Award, which is the highest designation for those who have made a significant and lasting contribution to the Infantry. He was a highly decorated veteran to include; Medal of Honor, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. John was appointed as a Special Deputy with the Richland County Sheriff's Department. He was a collector of Eagles, and often supported Patriotic events at Fort Jackson and in the Midlands of South Carolina.

Surviving are his wife, Donnell G. Baker of Columbia; brothers, William Baker and Charles Baker both of Iowa; sisters, Marilyn Edwards of Oklahoma, Eleanor Gring, Mary Anne McCallum and Gloria Helfrich, all of Iowa; brother-in-law, Dennis M. Brazil of Nevada; numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by his brothers, Milo Allison and Robert Drury.

Memorials may be made to Medal of Honor Society, 40 Patriots Point Road, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464.

Published in The State on January 23, 2012.

Read John F. Baker Jr.'s Medal of Honor Citation Here

 


 

   
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