jwc1974 Posted October 5, 2009 Share #1 Posted October 5, 2009 This photo album belonged to Major General William Baker. It was given to him in 1960 by Lt. General Yo Chan Song of the South Korean army. The problem is there isn't one photograph of General Baker. The album contains photographs centered on one person. Does anyone recognize this man? In a few photos he is wearing a jacket that has a nametag of Johnson. I just can't place him. Thanks in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwc1974 Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share #2 Posted October 5, 2009 . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Wailuna Posted October 5, 2009 Share #8 Posted October 5, 2009 ...The problem is there isn't one photograph of General Baker. The album contains photographs centered on one person. Does anyone recognize this man... Here's one: Cadet Lieutenant William C. Baker, Jr., with Major General John Hines at the 1926 graduation exercise, West Point, New York. Major General Baker retired about 1960 and continued to serve as Assistant to the Secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission. He died in 1966 and is buried at Arlington. The gentleman who is shown in your pictures might actually be General Baker. As you see, he is wearing an Army field uniform in all but the first picture and the flight jacked named to "Johnson" might have been a loaner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwc1974 Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share #9 Posted October 5, 2009 I don't think its Major General Baker. Baker was born in 1902 and that would make him about 58 years old in 1960. This man looks older. Also, he didn't retire until 1964 from the army. Thanks for posting that picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wailuna Posted October 5, 2009 Share #10 Posted October 5, 2009 Still haven't ID'ed your general but here are two more pieces to the Baker puzzle, which plausibly link him to the vicinity of Korea ca. 1960: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEAST Posted October 5, 2009 Share #11 Posted October 5, 2009 Member of the Armed Services Committe on a fact-finding tour? The name does not match up with the Secretary of Defense at the time, so I would think it is a Congressman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBFloyd Posted October 5, 2009 Share #12 Posted October 5, 2009 Louis B. Johnson was Secretary of Defense 1949-1950. He was replaced 19 Sep 1950 because of the reverses early in the Korean War. If the images date from that period, he's your man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wailuna Posted October 5, 2009 Share #13 Posted October 5, 2009 ...Louis B. Johnson was Secretary of Defense 1949-1950...If the images date from that period, he's your man... Well, maybe. Here is Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson, front row, second from right, seated between Army Lt. Gen. W.H.H. Morris and Admiral Forrest P. Sherman (March 1950). This picture was taken 10 years before the pictures in the mystery album, so it is hard to tell if it is the same man. Another not-so-good picture of Secretary Johnson adorns his official OSD bio (link here), in which he appears to be even more seriously bald headed than the gentleman pictured in the album, although they both have pretty big ears. My take is that we still don't have posititve ID. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Hudson Posted October 5, 2009 Share #14 Posted October 5, 2009 I don't think its Major General Baker. Baker was born in 1902 and that would make him about 58 years old in 1960. This man looks older. Also, he didn't retire until 1964 from the army. Thanks for posting that picture. Whomever it is, they had super-VIP status. I've tried, without luck, to match it to ambassadors, cabinet secretaries and senators, etc. For sure it is not Louis A Johnson. I wonder if it's a retired General who might have played a role in the Korean War? Baker certainly was a man of many talents so it is not easy to pin down who he might have worked with. When he died in 1966 he was Assistant to the Secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission. He was an Engineer who was Chief of Staff for the 106th Infantry Division in WWII, he was the Eighth Army Engineer in the Korean War, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwc1974 Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share #15 Posted October 5, 2009 More pictures from the album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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