Baker, Ronald W.

Age:               34

Hometown:  Cabot

Rank:             Sergeant Arkansas Army National Guard - 39^th Support Battalion, 39^th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1^st Cavalry Division

Cause:           Died in Landstuhl, Germany, on October 13^th, 2004, from injuries sustained by a roadside bomb near Taji, Iraq, on October 7^th, 2004

Sgt. Ronald W. Baker, of Cabot, was a loving man who cared deeply for his family and his friends. He was also a native Arkansan who cared deeply for his state and his country. Today, he is remembered as a devoted husband, father, brother, son, and friend. He is also remembered as a brave soldier who died a hero.

Sgt. Baker was born in the small Arkansas town of Searcy and later moved with his family to nearby Cabot. Wherever he went, Sgt. Baker quickly made friends and those who knew him best often talked of how his personality always seemed to draw others to him. His strong sense of family and community is what contributed to his decision to enlist in the Arkansas Army National Guard a month after the tragic events of September 11, 2001. He served as a member of the Guard's 39th Support Battalion based out of Lonoke and was later called up to serve as a specialist in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Along with many of his comrades in the 39^th, he was stationed at Camp Taji, about 16 miles northwest of downtown Baghdad. 

On October 7, Sgt. Baker volunteered for a supply mission that would convoy from Camp Taji to another camp nearby. While en route, a roadside bomb concealed in a parked car exploded as the convoy rode by with Sgt. Baker in the gunner's turret of a humvee. As a result of the blast, he sustained serious injuries and was immediately flown to Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Germany. Sgt. Baker's wife, Joanne, and his father, Anthony, were quickly flown in from Arkansas so they could be there to share in his last few moments. Although Sgt. Baker was never baptized, he had previously told his wife that he wanted to leave the world as a Christian. Before he passed away on October 13, Joanne would watch as an Air National Guard Chaplain baptized her husband and, in her words, permitted him to pass into a better place.

The day of his funeral was proclaimed as "Sergeant Ronald Baker Day" in his hometown. Those en route to his memorial ceremony at the Arkansas Veterans' Cemetery in North Little Rock drove under an arch made of ladders over the highway that hung a large American flag. It was a touching and fitting tribute, created by the Sherwood Fire Department, to honor one of Arkansas' fallen who paid the ultimate sacrifice in order to make those around him safer.  
Along with a grateful nation, my thoughts and prayers go out to Joanne; their 7-year-old daughter, Alexis; Anthony and his mother Carolyn; his brother and sister; and to the rest of his family, friends and loved ones. Although Ronald Baker may no longer be with us, the lasting relationships he formed and the principles he fought for live on in all of us.