Medal of Honor: Thomas A. Baker – World War II – June 19 to July 7, 1944

Name: Thomas A. Baker
Rank: Sergeant
Branch: U.S. Army
War: World War II
Unit: Company A, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division
Date of Action: June 19 – July 7, 1944
Location: Saipan, Mariana Islands

Summary of Action

Between 19 June and 7 July 1944, Sergeant Thomas A. Baker displayed extraordinary heroism during the bitter fighting for Saipan in the Mariana Islands.

Early in the campaign, his company was pinned down by intense machine-gun and small-arms fire from heavily fortified Japanese positions dominating the terrain.

Without hesitation, Baker voluntarily seized a bazooka and advanced alone through a storm of enemy fire to within one hundred yards of the strongpoint. Braving concentrated rifle and machine-gun fire directed specifically at him, he destroyed the position and enabled his company to continue its assault.

Days later, while his unit advanced across open ground vulnerable to ambush, Baker again volunteered to remain behind the main body to guard against surprise attack.

In doing so, he discovered two heavily fortified enemy positions that had been bypassed and were occupied by two Japanese officers and ten enlisted men. Although hopelessly outnumbered, he attacked alone and killed every defender.

Continuing his mission, he later discovered six more enemy soldiers concealed behind American lines and eliminated them as well.

On 7 July 1944, Baker's position became one of the focal points of the largest Japanese banzai attack of the Pacific War as an estimated force of between 3,000 and 5,000 enemy troops assaulted the American perimeter from three directions.

During the opening stages of the attack, Baker was seriously wounded.

Despite his injuries, he refused evacuation and continued firing into the attacking enemy at distances as close as five yards until his ammunition was exhausted.

Even after his weapon had been battered useless during brutal hand-to-hand fighting, he continued resisting.

A fellow soldier managed to carry him approximately fifty yards toward the rear before being wounded himself.

Realizing that any further rescue attempt would likely cost additional lives, Baker firmly refused to be moved again.

Instead, he requested to be placed in a sitting position against a small tree.

When another comrade later offered assistance during the withdrawal, Baker again refused, insisting that he be left where he was and asking only for a soldier's pistol containing its remaining eight rounds.

The last time anyone saw him alive, Sergeant Baker sat calmly beneath the tree, pistol in hand, facing the advancing enemy.

After the battle, his body was found in exactly that position.

His pistol was empty.

Eight Japanese soldiers lay dead before him.

His extraordinary courage, devotion to his comrades, and determination to fight to his final breath remain among the most remarkable acts of valor in American military history.

Medal of Honor Citation

BAKER, THOMAS A.

Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division.

Place and date: Saipan, Mariana Islands, 19 June to 7 July 1944.

Entered service at: Troy, N.Y.

Birth: Troy, N.Y.

G.O. No.: 35, 9 May 1945.

Citation:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty at Saipan, Mariana Islands, 19 June to 7 July 1944. When his entire company was held up by fire from automatic weapons and small-arms fire from strongly fortified enemy positions that commanded the view of the company, Sgt. (then Pvt.) Baker voluntarily took a bazooka and dashed alone to within 100 yards of the enemy. Through heavy rifle and machine-gun fire that was directed at him by the enemy, he knocked out the strongpoint, enabling his company to assault the ridge. Some days later, while his company advanced across an open field flanked with obstructions and places of concealment for the enemy, Sgt. Baker again voluntarily took up a position in the rear to protect the company against surprise attack and came upon two heavily fortified enemy pockets manned by two officers and ten enlisted men which had been bypassed. Without regard for such superior numbers, he unhesitatingly attacked and killed all of them. Five hundred yards farther, he discovered six men of the enemy who had concealed themselves behind American lines and destroyed all of them. On 7 July 1944, the perimeter of which Sgt. Baker was a part was attacked from three sides by from 3,000 to 5,000 Japanese. During the early stages of this attack, Sgt. Baker was seriously wounded but insisted on remaining in the line and fired at the enemy at ranges sometimes as close as five yards until his ammunition ran out. Without ammunition and with his own weapon battered to uselessness from hand-to-hand combat, he was carried about fifty yards to the rear by a comrade, who was then himself wounded. At this point Sgt. Baker refused to be moved any farther, stating that he preferred to be left to die rather than risk the lives of any more of his friends. A short time later, at his request, he was placed in a sitting position against a small tree. Another comrade, withdrawing, offered assistance. Sgt. Baker refused, insisting that he be left alone and be given a soldier’s pistol with its remaining eight rounds of ammunition. When last seen alive, Sgt. Baker was propped against a tree, pistol in hand, calmly facing the foe. Later Sgt. Baker’s body was found in the same position, gun empty, with eight Japanese lying dead before him. His deeds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army.