White River War
Victim Being Returned
Home Soon

The remains of Sherman L. Baker, killed in action with the armed forces in Normandy France during the war, are enroute to the United States according to word received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Tom Baker of Patrick. The telegram received by Mr. and Mrs. Baker did not give the definite time of arrival and .funeral arrangements at this time are incomplete. The deceased was born in Madison county and entered the Army from here soon after the United States became involved in the war. He was 23 years of age at the time of his death.

[The Madison County Record, Huntsville, AR, 24 Jun 1948, Thu, Page 1]

FUNERAL FOR -RETURNED WAR HERO THURSDAY

   Funeral services for 'Sherman L. Baker, a returned, war hero, are to be held at Patrick today, Thursday,' July 15 at 2 o'clock p.m.
   The remains arrived Monday at' the Brashears Funeral Home here from the military cemetery, Blosville, France.
  Baker, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Baker of Patrick, died of battle wounds in a military hospital in France, July 13,1944. The wounds which proved fatal were received on D-Day, June 5, [sic] when he parachuted With his unit, Co. F, of the 508 Parachute Regt. of a paratroop division, into Normandy in the pre-dawn darkness before the landing troops hit the beaches.
   The task of his unit, to disrupt enemy communications and supply lines and the bringing up of re-enforcements, was hazardous in the extreme. The nature of the task and the effectiveness of .his regiment's success, speak in unmistakable terms of Pvt. Baker's heroic service and are .mute testimony of a hero's death.
   The deceased was born Jan. 23, 1921, near Patrick. He attended the Patrick and Possum Creek grade schools and was a student in St. Paul High School. He entered service Oct. 31,1942 in Arizona and took basic training at Ft, Blanding, Fla. He served in camps in Georgia and North Carolina before going overseas in Nov. 1943 [sic]
   Survivors besides his father and stepmother are one brother, .George, Yakima Wash; five half-brothers, Roy Don Baker, now in Army service at Ft Knox, Ky; Dave, Dean, Ronnie and Howard, of the home; six half-sisters, Mrs. Annie Marie Walker, Patrick; and Misses Shirley, Julia, Thelma, Bessie Ruth and Alma Arietta, all of the home.
   The funeral services will be conducted by Rev. Basil Ledford, Baptist minister of Cannon Creek, at the community house. The military files will be, performed by members of Grandstaff-Bayles Post 211 of Crosses and Hayes-Smith Post 127 of Huntsville.  Burial in Patrick cemetery will be under-direction of Brashears Funeral Home,

[The Madison County Record, Huntsville, AR, 15 Jul 1948, Thu, Page 1]

.

[courtesy of Baker family]

Grave marker for Sherman L. Baker in the Patrick Cemetery, Patrick (Madison county), Arkansas

Pvt Baker was wounded in action on 13 June 44 in Normandy, France and was evacuated to a field hospital.  He died as a result of those wounds on July 6th.