Art was born July 30,1933,the first born of Arthur Monroe and Hazel Granberry Baker.He is survived by a daughter,Valaree Baker Barger of Longview,Tx.,several grand children and great grand children,one sister,Susan,and one brother,Davy.He was dedicated to God,family,and country.He was preceded in death by a daughter,Melodie Susan,who died of Lukemia in 1957 at age 3. He joined the Air force in June,1951,at age 17,after graduating high school in Pittsburg,Tx..After his enlistment was up,he worked for the San Antonio Police Dept.and attended night classes at San Antonio J.C..He then rejoined,went to O.C.S.,received a commission and went to Nav.School in Harlingen,Tx. He was a Navigator Instructor at James Connally AFB in Waco,Tx. and attended night classes at Baylor U. prior to deployment to Vietnam in Dec.,1964. On the morning of April 07,1965 Capt's. Arthur Baker and Jim Lewis, pilot,led a flight of four B-57B Canberras from Bien Hoa on an interdiction mission over Xiang Khoang Province,Laos. After they iniated an attack run through heavy clouds,Jim was heard to radio"off target and outbound".After they failed to return to base,and a check was made with other bases,and the time had passed for fuel being depleted,a Search and Rescue was iniated. S&R missions continued through April 12 but failed to yield any evidence of them or their aircraft. On April 14,1965,the New China News Agency reported the shoot down of a B-57 about 3 miles north-northeast of Khang Khay,Laos. Initially they were listed as missing on a classified mission in South Vietnam. The loss location was later changed to Laos. In July,2005,the Dept.of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office,(DPMO)announced the remains of two servicemen,MIA from the Vietnam war, had been ID'd and were being returned to their families for burial with military honors.The ID'd remains of Art are buried in Rosewood Park,Longview,Tx. and those of Jim at Colonial Gardens in Marshall,Tx.,26 miles apart.I've always known they each died in good company,they were alike in many ways. On Sept.16 2005 the unidentified human remains were buried in a comingled remains grave in Arlington Nat'l. Cemetery.During their MIA time,promotions contiuned,based on time in grade,until their status was changed to KIA. Our sincere thanks and gratitude to the men and women of several nations who took part in the remains recovery ,and to the DOD and USAF for keeping a promise. The attached link contains a slide show of the difficult and hazardous two year excavation of the crash site, and remains recovery operation in Laos, and ends with the ceremony at ANC. The webmaster also lost her brother in Vietnam.Art and Jim are listed on The Wall,Panel O1E,Line 102.
Art was born July 30,1933,the first born of Arthur Monroe and Hazel Granberry Baker.He is survived by a daughter,Valaree Baker Barger of Longview,Tx.,several grand children and great grand children,one sister,Susan,and one brother,Davy.He was dedicated to God,family,and country.He was preceded in death by a daughter,Melodie Susan,who died of Lukemia in 1957 at age 3. He joined the Air force in June,1951,at age 17,after graduating high school in Pittsburg,Tx..After his enlistment was up,he worked for the San Antonio Police Dept.and attended night classes at San Antonio J.C..He then rejoined,went to O.C.S.,received a commission and went to Nav.School in Harlingen,Tx. He was a Navigator Instructor at James Connally AFB in Waco,Tx. and attended night classes at Baylor U. prior to deployment to Vietnam in Dec.,1964. On the morning of April 07,1965 Capt's. Arthur Baker and Jim Lewis, pilot,led a flight of four B-57B Canberras from Bien Hoa on an interdiction mission over Xiang Khoang Province,Laos. After they iniated an attack run through heavy clouds,Jim was heard to radio"off target and outbound".After they failed to return to base,and a check was made with other bases,and the time had passed for fuel being depleted,a Search and Rescue was iniated. S&R missions continued through April 12 but failed to yield any evidence of them or their aircraft. On April 14,1965,the New China News Agency reported the shoot down of a B-57 about 3 miles north-northeast of Khang Khay,Laos. Initially they were listed as missing on a classified mission in South Vietnam. The loss location was later changed to Laos. In July,2005,the Dept.of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office,(DPMO)announced the remains of two servicemen,MIA from the Vietnam war, had been ID'd and were being returned to their families for burial with military honors.The ID'd remains of Art are buried in Rosewood Park,Longview,Tx. and those of Jim at Colonial Gardens in Marshall,Tx.,26 miles apart.I've always known they each died in good company,they were alike in many ways. On Sept.16 2005 the unidentified human remains were buried in a comingled remains grave in Arlington Nat'l. Cemetery.During their MIA time,promotions contiuned,based on time in grade,until their status was changed to KIA. Our sincere thanks and gratitude to the men and women of several nations who took part in the remains recovery ,and to the DOD and USAF for keeping a promise. The attached link contains a slide show of the difficult and hazardous two year excavation of the crash site, and remains recovery operation in Laos, and ends with the ceremony at ANC. The webmaster also lost her brother in Vietnam.Art and Jim are listed on The Wall,Panel O1E,Line 102.
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