 Baker was born on June 25, 1916, in Troy, New York and later 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.