Corporal Baker was a medic with the Medical Company, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while tending his wounded comrades in North Korea on 30 November 1950 and died while a prisoner on 31 March 1951. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Baker was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Medical Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.