Paul Thompson Baker

Captain, 58th Infantry, 4th Division

Silver Star. General Orders No. 30, Headquarters 8th Infantry Brigade, A. E. F., November 25, 1918: The Brigade Commander cites with pride the conduct in battle of the following named officers and enlisted men:.....Paul T. Baker, captain, 58th Infantry (then second lieutenant, 12th Machine Gun Battalion). Vesle River, France, August 3 to 14, 1918. First as transport officer of Company A, 12th Machine Gun Battalion, and later as company commander, all other officers being casualties, this officer displayed unusual courage, aggressiveness and devotion to duty, carrying out all orders and personally directing the bringing forward of rations and ammunition and as company commander, although severely gassed and burned by mustard gas, he refused to be evacuated until his company was relieved and withdrawn from action and then only on the insistence of the battalion surgeon; in the foregoing, Captain Baker was an inspiring example of fortitude and devotion for all who were associated with him during this period and gained the utmost confidence of his company....By command of Brigadier General Booth: Charles E. T. Lull, Lieutenant Colonel, General Staff, acting Adjutant.

Record. Born February 8, 1894, Boonville; son of John E. and Effie (Hart) Baker. Student, Purdue University. Enlisted April 7, 1915, Indiana National Guard, Lafayette; mustered into Federal service June 21, 1916. Training: Fort Benjamin Harrison; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Camp Greene, North Carolina; Camp Dodge, Iowa; Camp Lewis, Washington. Assigned to Battery B, 1st Field Artillery, Indiana National Guard; transferred to 58th Infantry; to 12th Machine Gun Battalion; to 58th Infantry. Second lieutenant, November 13, 1917; first lieutenant (temporary), June 18, 1918; captain, Infantry, U. S. Army, November 16, 1918 - June 30, 1920; first lieutenant, May 7, 1918 - August 1, 1919. Battles: Aisne-Marne, Vesle River, St. Mihiel, Toulon, Meuse-Argonne. Wounded August 8, 1918, Vesle River. In Army of Occupation. Still in service.

Married Jean Guthrie. Sons, James Guthrie, William Reid.       Flint, Michigan.