Army Pfc. Baines was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Baines died of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee at Taji. Joe grew up in a rough neighborhood in Newark and attended Summit Quest Academy in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, which is a high school for troubled youth. He graduated in 2005 and was accepted into Harvard University. But he decided he was going to get his family and himself out of their neighborhood, so in September 2005 he enlisted in the Army. He had been in Iraq since October. Joe was a remarkable person who spoke five different languages. He loved macaroni and cheese, water, fried chicken, poetry, basketball and singing but his greatest love was his family. On one of his last calls home, he told his mother he had recently carried a fallen soldier out of battle and knew he could be next. He told her, "I'm calling you now because we're about to raid the town the boy was killed in. I'm calling you just in case I don't call you back – you know what happened." Baines was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his service.
Army Pfc. Baines was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Baines died of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee at Taji. Joe grew up in a rough neighborhood in Newark and attended Summit Quest Academy in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, which is a high school for troubled youth. He graduated in 2005 and was accepted into Harvard University. But he decided he was going to get his family and himself out of their neighborhood, so in September 2005 he enlisted in the Army. He had been in Iraq since October. Joe was a remarkable person who spoke five different languages. He loved macaroni and cheese, water, fried chicken, poetry, basketball and singing but his greatest love was his family. On one of his last calls home, he told his mother he had recently carried a fallen soldier out of battle and knew he could be next. He told her, "I'm calling you now because we're about to raid the town the boy was killed in. I'm calling you just in case I don't call you back – you know what happened." Baines was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his service.
