Lt Col Roland Henry Baker, Jr

• Reference: Ancestry Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jun 16 2019, 1:14:36 UTC

  ---

  
  

29 Mar 1945 U.S. Navy Hellcat fighter pilot Roland Henry Baker (left) aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Hancock recounts a rescue mission of a bailed-out helldiver pilot, Somerville (2nd right), saving Somerville from certain death in Kagoshima Bay, near the Island of Kyushu, Japan during World War II. A dogfight ensued with fighter pilots Baker, Moeller and Kilnger of the VF-6 shooting down at least five Japanese "zero" fighter planes during the dogfight and successfully rescued Somerville from the Kagoshima Bay. Roland H. Baker encountered anti-aircraft fire from shore batteries around the bay during most of the two hours he was so damaged by anti-aircraft fire that he could not land aboard his carrier but had to make a crash water landing. "The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Ensign Roland H. Baker, Jr. … His skill and courage were at all times in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service." Somerville later became a judge and thanked Roland H. Baker for saving his life. Roland H. Baker was the youngest U.S. Navy fighter pilot to serve in World War II.

On September 2, 1945 at 9:04 A.M. Roland Baker and the VF-6 fighting squadron flew overhead while U.S. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Commander in the Southwest Pacific and Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, Japanese foreign minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and and General Yoshijirō Umezu "By Command and on behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government" signed the instrument of surrender on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri.

Col Roland Henry Baker, Jr (10 Oct 1923 Chelsea, Suffolk, Mass - 12 Jun 1994 Nashville, Davidson, Tenn) was my father.

Roland Henry Baker, Jr's father was Captain Roland Henry Baker, Sr (1 May 1897 West Newton, Middlesex, Mass - 27 Jan 1985 Elkins, Merrimack, N.H.) a veteran of World War I and son of Frederic Warren Kidder Baker (1872 – 1941) and Ada Foss (one of the Heavenly Twins, singer, born 1876 and daughter of author and adventurer James Henry Foss).

Roland Henry Baker, Jr's mother was Ethel Gertrude Lenfest (30 Sep 1898 Chelsea, Suffolk, Mass - 2 Feb 1995 in Nashville, Davidson, Tenn) daughter of Charles Grant Lenfest (21 Dec 1868 Cambridge, Mass - 26 Jan 1927 Boston, Mass) and Maria Adela Sampson (3 Oct 1867 Boston, Suffolk, Mass - 14 Aug 1949 Belmont, Middlesex, Mass).

Roland Henry Baker, Jr married first Carol Bernice Schaumburg of Oak Park, Cook, Illinois, the daughter of Leroy Wilbert (Roy) Schaumburg (1900-1974) and Vlasta Marie Pokorná (1906-1998) on 8 Jun 1946 in Corpus Christi, Nueces, Texas. She married second 21 March 1951 Chicago, Cook, Illinois, United States Lester Zellner Winkler (1922–1990).

Roland Henry Baker, Jr married second Carmencita Theresa "Ci" Suarez of New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana daughter of Edward Joseph Eduardo Suarez (1892–1933) and Marie Francesca St Pe (1892–) on 22 Aug 1951 in Falmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts. They divorced 5 Jun 1956 in Merrimack County, New Hampshire.

Roland Henry Baker, Jr married third Cornelia "Connie" Keyworth (10 Feb 1932 Boston, Suffolk, Mass – 14 Jan 2013 Raleigh, Wake, N.C.) the daughter of Edward Connell Keyworth (1901 – 1978) and Lenore D Hewett (1902 – 1987) and had two daughters with Connie: Kathryn Ann "Kathy" Baker and Carey Lee Baker.

Roland Henry Baker, Jr married fourth Joan Leonard Chadbourne of Providence, R.I., a school teacher and daughter of Joseph Humphrey Chadbourne, Jr (1900 – 1975) and Barbara Anita Bullard (1906 – 1998). Roland and Joan had one son Roland Henry Baker III of Santa Barbara, California. Roland Henry Baker, Jr adopted Joan's three daughters from a previous marriage: Sivea, Gwyn and Meg Cattelll.

Roland Henry Baker, Jr married fifth Emily Kay Carter, a singer, no children with Emily.

His Baker ancestors originally came from Sissinghurst, Kent, England. During the great migration 400 years ago his forefather Thomas Baker was a founding member of the Roxbury Colony in the early 1600's. In the late 1700's during an ill fated Navel campaign against the British his father a ship's surgeon, Lemuel Baker, left Roxbury and was shipwrecked in Steuben, Washington, Maine where the family remained for generations. The Bakers of Steuben, Maine made regular voyages back to the first Church of Roxbury for baptisms, marriages and deaths. The first Church of Roxbury remained the cornerstone of the family for generations.

His American Baker pedigree is Col Roland Henry Baker, Jr 10 (1923-1994), Captain Roland Henry Baker, Sr 9 (1897 – 1985), Frederic Warren Kidder Baker 8 (1872 – 1941), John H Baker 7 (1822 – 1873), Eli Forbes Baker 6 (1790 – 1855), Lemuel Baker 5 (1742 –), Capt John Baker 4 (1705 – 1781), Thomas Baker 3 (1676 – 1761), John Baker 2 (1644 – 1732), Thomas Baker 1 (1608 – 1683),

Nearly 20 years after World War II Baker retired from the U.S. Navy after serving as a fighter pilot in the Korean War. He continued his flying career untimately flying private jets including Lear Jets, Goldstreams and Sabreliner Alphas. He briefly took up car racing. On the afternoon of 12 Jun 1994 Roland H. Baker was killed while riding a Vincent Black Shadow on the country roads of Davidson County, Tennessee.

From Roland Baker, Jr back to Capt John Baker in the founding colony at Roxbury the Bakers have served in The American War of Independence, King Philips War, The War of 1812, the Civil War, World War I, World War II and the Korean War and many other wars with distinction, honor, valor and most of all loyalty to their fellow solders and they have taken this spirit into civic minded responsibilities.

• FTDNA BigY Results: Haplogroup R-L664: (1923) R1a > R-M459 > R-M198/M512/M17 > R-M417 > R-CTS4385 > R-L664 > R-S2894 > R-YP285 > R-YP282 > R-YP441 > R-YP4535
• His Grandfather Charles Grant Lenfest Dies: (26 Jan 1927 — Age: 3) Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA
• His Parents Divorce: (1928 — Age: 5)
• Residence: (1929 — Age: 6) Newton, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA
• Residence: (14 Apr 1930 — Age: 6) Belmont, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA
• Residence: (1935 — Age: 12) Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts, USA
• His mother remarries to Col Roland Choate: (1936 — Age: 13) Falmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
• Residence: (1 Apr 1940 — Age: 16) Falmouth, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
• His Grandfather Frederic Kidder Baker Dies: (6 Jan 1941 — Age: 17) 2 South State St, Concord, Merrimack, New Hampshire
• Empire of Japan attacks Pearl Harbor: (7 Dec 1941 — Age: 18)
• Military: (Dec 1942 — Age: 19)
• Military: (1 Jan 1943 — Age: 19) USS Hancock, Japan
• USS Hancock Launched: (24 Jan 1944 — Age: 20)
• USS Hancock joins Carrier Task Group 38.2 attack Okinawa: (5 Oct 1944 — Age: 20) 375 nmi (690 km) west of the Marianas
• USS Hancock attacks Formosa: (12 Oct 1944 — Age: 21) Formosan now Taiwan
• USS Hancock Launches attacks on The Philippines: (18 Oct 1944 — Age: 21) Laoag, Aparri, Camiguin, Luzon, Cebu, Panay, Negros, and Masbate
• Kamikaze attach on USS Hancock: (25 Nov 1944 — Age: 21)
• USS Hancock Accident: (21 Jan 1945 — Age: 21) South China Sea
• Attachs in the South China Sea and Explosion on Deck: (Jan 1945 — Age: 21) South China Sea
• Hancock clears way for bloody Iwo Jima battle: (Feb 1945 — Age: 21)
• Heroic Rescue Mission: Roland saves bailed-out helldiver: (29 Mar 1945 — Age: 21) Kagoshima Bay, near the Island of Kyushu, Japan
• Hancock clears airfields in preparation for Okinawa Assault : (Mar 1945 — Age: 21)
• Kamikaze takes Hancock Out during Invasion of Okinawa : (Apr 1945 — Age: 21)
• Hancock Roars Back into Action: (13 Jun 1945 — Age: 21)
• Hancock Strikes Mainland Japan Hard: (Jul 1945 — Age: 21)
• Hancock Drops supplies on POW Camps : (Aug 1945 — Age: 21)
• Roland Baker and VF6 Fly over Signing of Instrument of Surrender: (2 Sep 1945 — Age: 21) Over Deck of USS Missouri in Tokoyo Bay
• USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) with VR-24 Launched: (5 Sep 1945 — Age: 21) Pacific
• USS Hancock Operation Magic Carpet and Inactivation: (10 Sep 1945 — Age: 21) Tokyo Bay to Seattle, Washington
• USS Philippine Sea cruises in the Mediterranean: (1948 — Age: 25) Mediterranean Sea
• His Grandmother Maria Adela Sampson Dies: (14 Aug 1949 — Age: 25) Belmont, Middlesex, Massachusetts, USA
• Korean War Begins: (25 Jun 1950 — Age: 26) USS Philippine Sea, Pacific off of Korea
• Philippine Sea Supports the Inchon landing : (15 Sep 1950 — Age: 26) USS Philippine Sea, Yellow Sea off Korea
• Philippine Sea supports retreat from Yalu River to Hungnam: (Nov 1950 — Age: 27) USS Philippine Sea
• Philippine Sea deploys second time to Korea: (20 Jan 1952 — Age: 28)
• Third Deployment of the Philippine Sea to Korea: (Dec 1952 — Age: 29)
• Korean War Armistice: (27 Jul 1953 — Age: 29) USS Philippine Sea, Pacific off Korea
• Dughter Kathryn Ann "Kathy" Baker Born: (1954 — Age: 31) Florida, USA
• Marriage to Cornelia "Connie" Alice Keyworth: (1954 — Age: 31) Florida, USA
• Daughter Carey Lee Baker Born: (1958 — Age: 35) Florida, USA
• Flight Instructor US Navy 1959 - 1963 Pensicola, Florida: (1959 — Age: 36) Pensicola, Florida
• Divorce from Cornelia "Connie" Alice Keyworth: (Nov 1961 — Age: 38) Duval, Florida, USA
• Reitrement from Naval Aviation: (1 May 1963 — Age: 39) Pacific, Japan, Korea
• Marriage to Joan Leonard Chadbourne 12: (8 May 1964 — Age: 40) Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut, United States
• Occupation: (1964- 1985 — Age: 41) Massachusetts, Canada, Nashville
• Residence: (1964-1966 — Age: 41) Suffield, Hartford, Connecticut
• Son Roland Henry Baker, III is born: (1965 — Age: 42) Massachusetts
• Residence: (1966-1967 — Age: 43) Scituate, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
• Chief Pilot at Northern Telecom: (1966 — Age: 43) Montreal, Canada
• Residence: (1967-1973 — Age: 44) School St, Essex Junction, Chittenden, Vermont, USA
• Nortel Moves to Massachusetts and Expands: (1973 — Age: 50) Massachusetts
• Residence: (1973-1975 — Age: 50) Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA
• Nortel Moves to Nashville and expands more: (1977 — Age: 54)
• Residence: (1977-1994 — Age: 54) Ellesmere Rd, Nashville, Davidson, Tennessee, USA
• Associations/Service Organizations: (1980 — Age: 57)
• His Father Roland Henry Baker Sr Dies: (27 Jan 1985 — Age: 61) Elkins, Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA
• His Aunt Helen Lenfest Dies: (28 Feb 1988 — Age: 64) Hyannis, Barnstable, Massachusetts, USA
• Burial: (5 Oct 1994) Massachusetts National Cemetery Bourne Barnstable County Massachusetts, USA Plot: 14A, 0, 153

Sources

1. Certificate of Vital Record: The commonwealth of Massachusetts: Department of Public Health Registry of Vital Records, R301984 Birth County of Middlesex, Town of Newton 536.

Date of Birth October 10, 1923 FULL NAME OF CHILD Roland Henry Baker' Jr; Roland H. Baker age 26 born Newton, Mass; MOTHER Ethel G. Lenfest age 25 born Chelsea, Mass.; 6 Laurel, Chelsea, Mass

1. TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH CERTIFICATE OF DEATH, State File Number 94 0232329. ROLAND HENRY BAKER, JR.DATE Of Death June 12, 1994; In armed forces; University Medical Center; Surviving Spouse Kay Carter; Occupation Pilot, Northern Telecom; Age 70; Date of Birth October 10, 1923 Place of Birth NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS; Residence 6640 ELLESMERE ROAD, Nashville, TN.; Father's name: ROLAHD H. BAKER; Mother's name Ethel Lenfest

• Civil: Massachusetts
  • Updated from Ancestry Genealogy by SmartCopy: Sep 12 2015, 0:02:52 UTC