Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.
Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
MAJ. ARTHUR DALE BAKER
USAF ~ MIA ~ Apr 7, 1965
In LAOS
Officialy Recovered
Jun 23, 2005
"The Mansions of the Lord"
Words by Randall Wallace
To fallen soldiers let us sing
where no rockets fly nor bullets wing
Our broken brothers let us bring
to the mansions of the Lord
No more bleeding no more fight
No prayers pleading through the night
just divine embrace, eternal light
in the mansions of the Lord
Where no mothers cry and no children weep
We will stand and guard tho the angels sleep
All through the ages safely keep the mansions of the Lord
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Lay me down in the cold cold ground
Where before many more have gone
Once a year say a prayer for me
Close your eyes and remember me
On 07 April 1965 Captains Arthur Baker and James W. Lewis launched from Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, as one in a flight of four B-57B aircraft on an interdiction mission targeted in Xieng Khouang Province, Laos. Their aircraft was last seen descending through a thin undercast toward the target area and it never reappeared. Extensive search and rescue efforts through 12 April failed to locate either the aircraft or its crew.
On 14 April 1965 the New China News Agency reported the shoot-down of a B-57 approximately three miles north-northeast of the town of Khang Khay.
Both crewmen were initially reported missing in action in South Vietnam while on a classified mission. Their loss location later was changed to Laos.
In January 1974 Major Baker's next-of-kin requested his case review go forward and he was declared killed in action, body not recovered, on 08 January 1974. Lewis was declared dead/body not recovered, on 16 April 1982
BAKER, ARTHUR D.
Remains ID announced 07/2005
Name: Arthur D. Baker
Rank/Branch: USAF, O3
Unit:
Date of Birth: 30 July 33
Home City of Record: San Antonio, TX
Date of Loss: 07 April 65
Country of Loss: Laos
Loss Coordinates: 193500, 1034700
Status (in 1973): Missing in Action
Category: 3
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: B-57B
Remarks: Last seen on dive thru thin clouds.
Other Personnel In Incident: James W. Lewis
Source: Compiled by THE P.O.W. NETWORK 02 February 93 from the
following published sources - POW/MIA's -- Report of the Select Committee
on POW/MIA Affairs United States Senate -- January 13, 1993. "The Senate
Select Committee staff has prepared case summaries for the priority cases
that the Administration is now investigating. These provide the facts about
each case, describe the circumstances under which the individual was lost,
and detail the information learned since the date of loss. Information in
the case summaries is limited to information from casualty files, does not
include any judgments by Committee staff, and attempts to relate essential
facts. The Committee acknowledges that POW/MIAs' primary next-of- kin know
their family members' cases in more comprehensive detail than summarized
here and recognizes the limitations that the report format imposes on these
summaries."
On April 7, 1965, Baker and James [sic] were crewmen on a B-57B, one in a
flight of four aircraft on an interdiction mission launched from Bien Hoa
Air Base, South Vietnam and with its target in Xieng Khouang Province, Laos.
The crew was last seen descending through thin overcast toward the target
area and it never reappeared. Extensive search and rescue efforts through
April 12th failed to locate either the aircraft or its crew.
On April 14, 1965, the New China News Agency reported the shoot down of a
B-57 approximately three miles north-northeast of the town of Khang Khay.
This was described as the first B-57 shoot down of an aircraft launched from
South Vietnam.
Both crewmen were initially reported missing in action in South Vietnam
while on a classified mission. Their loss location was later changed to
Laos. There was limited wartime reporting about U.S. aircraft losses in the
general area the crewmen were last reported but they could not be correlated
to this specific incident. U.S. intelligence continues to receive
information which may correlate to this shoot down but provides no positive
information on the fate of the crewmen.
In January 1974 Major Baker's next-of-kin requested his case review go
forward and he was declared killed in action, body not recovered, in January
1974. Lewis was declared dead/body not recovered, in April 1982. Returning
POWs were unable to provide any information on the fate of these two
servicemen.
No. 757-05
Jul 26, 2005
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Air Force Officers MIA From Vietnam War are Identified
The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today the remains of two servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.
They are Col. James W. Lewis of Marshall, Texas, and Maj. Arthur D. Baker of San Antonio, Texas, both Air Force. Lewis is to be buried in Marshall on August 13, and Baker is to be buried in Longview, Texas on July 29.
On April 7, 1965, Lewis and Baker led a flight of four B-57B Canberra aircraft on an interdiction mission over Xiang Khoang Province, Laos. After their B-57 initiated an attack run into heavy clouds, Lewis radioed his plane was outbound away from the target. There was no further radio or visual contact with the crew, and search and rescue missions failed to yield any evidence of the two men or their aircraft. Although the cause of the crash is unknown, enemy fire and bad weather are believed to be contributing factors.
In July 1997, a joint US-Lao People's Democratic Republic team interviewed several witnesses, two of whom led the team to the crash site. Four excavations led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) from 2003 to 2004 yielded human remains and crew-related artifacts.
JPAC and Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab scientists used mitochondrial DNA to identify the remains as those of Lewis and Baker.
NEVER MY SOUL, STILL THE SONG...
OF WOUNDED HEARTS, THEIR LOVED ONE GONE...
OF HIM WHO GAVE HIS LIFE, FOR ME...
THAT I MIGHT LIVE, IN LIBERTY.
OH, I HAVE SLIPPED THE SURLY BONDS OF EARTH
AND DANCED THE SKIES ON LAUGHTER-SILVERED WINGS,
SUNWARD I'VE CLIMBED, AND JOINED THE TUMBLING MIRTH OF SUN-SPLIT CLOUDS AND DONE A HUNRED THINGS.
YOU HAVE NOT DREAMED OF WHEELED AND SOARED AND SWUNG,
HIGH IN THE SUNLIT SILENCE,
HOV'RING THERE, I'VE CHASED THE SHOUTING WIND ALONG,
AND FLUNG MY EAGER CRAFT THROUGH FOOTLESS HALLS OF AIR.
UP, UP THE LONG DELIRIOUS, BURNING BLUE,
I'VE TOPPED THE WINDSWEPT HEIGHTS WITH EASY GRACE,
WHERE NEVER LARK, OR EVEN EAGLE FLEW, AND WHILE WITH SILENT, LIFTING MIND, I'VE TROD HIGH UNTRESPASSED SANCTITY OF SPACE,
PUT OUT MY HAND AND TOUCHED THE FACE OF GOD.
~ By John G. Magee, Jr ~.
