Thomas Baker

Thomas Alexander Baker (June 25, 1916 – July 7, 1944) was a United States Army soldier who posthumously received the U.S. military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War II during the Battle of Saipan.

Baker was born in 1916 in Troy, New York, and joined the U.S. Army after graduating from high school. After Army basic training he was sent to fight in World War II. While serving as a member of the 27th Infantry Division he was injured and refused to be evacuated. He was later found dead with an empty pistol and the bodies of eight Japanese soldiers around him.

Biography Baker was born on June 25, 1916, in Troy, New York, and joined the Army from that city in October 1940. By June 19, 1944, he was serving as a private in Company A of the 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. On that day, on Saipan in the Marianas Islands, he advanced ahead of his unit with a bazooka and destroyed a Japanese emplacement which was firing on his company. Several days later, he single-handedly attacked and killed two groups of Japanese soldiers. On July 7, Baker's position came under attack by a large Japanese force. Although seriously wounded early in the attack, he refused to be evacuated and continued to fight in the close-range battle until running out of ammunition. When a comrade was wounded while trying to carry him to safety, Baker insisted that he be left behind. At his request, his comrades left him propped against a tree and gave him an M1911 pistol, which had eight bullets remaining. When American forces retook the position, they found the pistol, then empty, and eight dead Japanese soldiers around Baker's body.