The Wall › Panel 45E › Texas › Kenneth Earl Baker JR
KENNETH EARL BAKER JR
Airman First Class · U.S. Air Force
April 19, 1943 – March 22, 1968
Service recordKenneth Earl Baker JR, of La Porte, Texas, served as an Airman First Class in the U.S. Air Force. He died on March 22, 1968, in Phong Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 24. His name is inscribed on Panel 45E, Line 53 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 45E · Line 53
Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.
Remember
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Service
- Branch
- U.S. Air Force
- Rank
- Airman First Class (A1C)
- Service
- Regular
- Born
- April 19, 1943
- Home of record
- La Porte, Texas (Harris County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 22, 1968
- Age
- 24
- Province
- Phong Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Artillery/Mortar/Rocket
Context · from the records
What was happening
43 names on the Wall carry the date March 22, 1968; he was the only one lost in Phong Dinh Province that day. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
He died in Phong Dinh Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 45E, Line 53
- JAMES CARROLL ACKERMAN JRPrivate First Class · March 22, 1968
- WALTER HAROLD ANSLOWSpecialist Four · March 22, 1968
- GARY LANE BARNUMPrivate First Class · March 22, 1968
- ROBERT LEE BELLAMYStaff Sergeant · March 22, 1968
From La Porte
- BILLY WAYNE PLATTSergeant · August 22, 1967
- ROGER LEE PHILLIPSSpecialist Four · July 9, 1970
Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.