Gilbert Baker

Early start provided Army veteran unique opportunities

Resident served as escort to world famous German Army Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt

By Mary Kay Gominger

When he saw the Army traveling convoy coming through his hometown back in 1937, AFRH resident Gilbert Baker had an idea. He wasn't too excited about high school, he was running with a rough crowd, starting down the wrong path…maybe it was time to make a change, he thought. So, in his small North Carolina hometown of Tarboro, accompanied by his father who was onboard with his plan, Gilbert joined the Army. Nothing particularly unusual about this scenario, it was being played out in hundreds of small towns all over the country, except for one thing - Gilbert was only 14 years old. But with a little fudging about his age by his dad, he was in.

Gilbert recalled with a laugh, "There was a group of us that lined up to get our physical," he said. "Back then, they had doctors right there to examine you and so we all lined up, in our birthday suits, and they started down the line. Everybody but me was either 17 or 18 so when they got to me, well, it was obvious I was a good bit younger but my dad explained that I had always been a little "physically immature" and they bought it. I was in."

Gilbert spent the next few years at Scofield Barracks in Hawaii. He got out when he returned to the States but was recalled through the Army Reserve in February 1941 and stayed in until the end of the war. It was during this time that Gilbert got the opportunity to travel abroad and meet some fascinating people.

After a two-year tour in Fort Bragg, NC, where Gilbert trained recruits, he then traveled to various sites in Europe and in late 1944 was assigned to an infantry division in Germany which was a replacement depo for Patton's 3rd Army. His unit wasn't needed at the time so they stayed there waiting to be placed out, sleeping in pup tents in hip-deep snow. "The only heat was in the chow hall and we could only walk through and get our plates then go back outside and eat in the cold. It was pretty miserable," Gilbert said.

It wasn't long before Gilbert was assigned to Mobile Field Intelligence Unit 4. He was a driver and performed miscellaneous motor pool tasks; typically he escorted captured German prisoners to sites for interrogation by members of his unit. Sometimes, Gilbert said, the interrogations would take place in very unlikely places. "We would often take the prisoners to these fabulous mansions that the American forces had taken over. They were like vacation resorts," Gilbert said. "The houses and grounds were just magnificent and fully furnished, quite the opposite of pup tents in the freezing snow. We stayed in houses near where the prisoners were staying for interrogation and for several months we enjoyed the beautiful surroundings."

One memory that stands out for Gilbert was the assignment he received to escort Gerd von Rundstedt, the world famous German Army Field Marshall who engineered the Invasion of Poland and the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. Gilbert, armed with a .38 caliber pistol, traveled with von Rundstedt to various locations for interrogation then escorted him on a flight to England. In London he turned him over to the British authorities. He said, "Gerd von Rundstedt was a gentleman and reminded me of someone's grandfather. He was an old man by this time and was very small. He was a dedicated German career Army officer, just doing his job - that's the impression I got of him."

When World War II ended, Gilbert got out of the Army and, after obtaining his high school diploma equivalency, he went into the insurance appraiser field back in his home state of North Carolina. Gilbert retired in the mid 80s and he came to the AFRH in July of 2004, having remembered the .25 cent deduction taken for the Ole Soldier's Home from his Army paycheck over 70 years ago. Today, the 86 year old Army veteran enjoys spending time with family that lives nearby. He loves to read, he exercises daily and several times a week he can be found on the golf course. He has no explanation for his extreme good health.

"I don't even know what people are talking about when they say they are sick or don't feel good," Gilbert said. "I have never been sick a day in my life, never broken a bone or had a toothache and my only stay in any hospital was in the summer of 1942 to have tonsils removed. I was off three days then back to duty. I think my last headache was at least 50 years ago." Gilbert fully appreciates his good health and attributes his successful life experiences to the path the Army laid out for him at such a very early age. He now enjoys each and every day with fellow veterans at the AFRH.