<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3cXkRh_1GpaXGGQ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3cXkRh_1GpaXGGQ00" width="800" height="1261" ><figcaption>Albert Harris Baker’s official Army picture.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0ApZUI_1GpaXGGQ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0ApZUI_1GpaXGGQ00" width="800" height="1147" ><figcaption>Bert and his sister Myrtle, taken on the family farm before he left for Fort Snelling.</figcaption></figure>Oct. 15, 1940 was a day like any other for Hazelton man Albert Harris Baker. A day later his world would change in a very big way.Bert Baker, as everyone called him, registered for the draft, even though the United States wasn’t at war at the time. But by September, 1942, he was called to active duty and told to report to Fort Snelling in Minneapolis.Bert, who was the oldest son of William P. Baker and Selma (Horstmeyer) Baker of Hazelton’s Gayton District, went off to war like so many others following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on Dec. 7, 1941.Months later he found himself facing that same Japanese enemy in a place most people, including himself had never heard of until the Army sent him there.His unit, the 50th Engineer Combat Regiment, was sent the remote Aleutian island of Attu, which is the farthest away from mainland Alaska and the closest island to Russia in the Bering Sea. The rugged-terrain island is known for cold and windy conditions and tides that fluctuate as much as 22 feet.Attu Island was considered part of the Pacific Theater, but was the only part of that war zone that was fought in wintery conditions.On May 11, 1943, Bert’s unit started a two-week campaign called Operation Land Crab to drive the Japanese off the island they had currently occupied. Then, in the early hours of May 29, the Americans encountered a banzai attack (suicidal assault) near a place called “Massacre Bay” and Bert was one of 20 Soldiers killed that day. Thirty-five other Soldiers were wounded that same day.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1cCAOb_1GpaXGGQ00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1cCAOb_1GpaXGGQ00" width="800" height="1553" ><figcaption>Bert in Aeutians.</figcaption></figure>At 27 years old, Bert Baker died on the last full day of the Battle of Attu. The mission was complete 24 hours later and Selma Baker received a telegram from the Army telling her that her son had been killed in action off the coast of Alaska. Her oldest son was gone and she was now a Gold Star Mother.The story doesn’t end there. A total of 549 American Soldiers lost their lives in the Battle of Attu with another 1,100 wounded and 2,100 evacuated because of disease and frostbite. And because the United States was at war on two fronts, those deceased Soldiers were buried on the island. It is estimated that up to 2,400 Japanese were killed in that same 2 1/2 week battle.When the war ended, the Army, assisted by the Navy, began the difficult task of repatriation. Some of the bodies were sent back to their hometowns and others were interred at military cemeteries around the nation.For the Baker family, it took the Army five years for Bert to have a proper burial on U.S. soil, as he was interred at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis on Oct. 26, 1948. His gravesite is No. 7698 in Section C3.According to the National Park Service, Attu Island has been uninhabited since 2010 and is designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark.And to this day, the Battle of Attu is considered one of the costliest and bloodiest battles in the Pacific Theater, despite its relatively small scale. It is also notable for being the only land battle fought on North American soil during World War II.Read the Full Tribute to Service feature: https://northernsentry.com/3d-flip-book/tribute-to-service-2026/</div></body>

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Oct. 15, 1940 was a day like any other for Hazelton man Albert Harris Baker. A day later his world would change in a very big way. Bert Baker, as everyone called him, registered for the draft, even though the United States wasn’t at war at the time. But by September, 1942, he was called to active duty and told to report to Fort Snelling in Minneapolis.

From Hazelton to Attu: Remembering Albert “Bert” Baker

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Oct. 15, 1940 was a day like any other for Hazelton man Albert Harris Baker. A day later his world would change in a very big way. Bert Baker, as everyone 

From Hazelton to Attu: Remembering Albert “Bert” Baker

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