Addison Baker

His body was initially not identified after being recovered by the Romanians, and he was buried as an unknown American in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery at Ploieşti. After the war, the American Graves Registration Committee attempted to identify as many of the unknowns from the Ploieşti mission as possible, but Baker's remains were among those that were still unidentifiable with the forensics technology of the 1940s. He was memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial, in Florence, Italy. On April 13, 2022, the U.S. government's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Baker's remains had been identified on April 8, 2022 using modern forensics techniques. A rosette will be placed next to his name on the Tablets of the Missing to denote that he has been accounted for.

U.S. Army Air Forces Lt. Col. Addison E. Baker, who earned the Medal of Honor posthumously, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on September 14, 2022.

On March 11, 1944, Baker was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Major Jerstad also received the Medal of Honor, on October 28, 1943, for his role on the mission.

On August 1, 1943, the 93d Bomb Group, one of three from the Eighth Air Force sent to the Ninth Air Force especially for this mission, took to the air at Benghazi, Libya. Piloting Hell's Wench, a B-24 Liberator (Serial 42-40994), Baker led the 93rd as the second formation in the five-group mission of 177 aircraft. Co-piloting the aircraft was a volunteer and former member of the 93d, Major John L. Jerstad.

Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps, 93d Heavy Bombardment Group. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, August 1, 1943. Entered service at: Akron, Ohio. Born: January 1, 1907, Chicago, Ill. G.O. No.: 20, March 11, 1944.

Baker enlisted in the Army Air Corps on January 17, 1929, and graduated from the Air Corps Training Center on February 28, 1931. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Officers' Reserve Corps on February 27, 1931. On July 6, 1934, he was commissioned in the Michigan National Guard, serving until October 5, 1935. He later transferred to the Ohio National Guard, and was commissioned in the 112th Observation Squadron on April 15, 1936. He was inducted into federal service on 25 November 1940.

Baker joined the Army Air Corps from Akron, Ohio in 1929, and earned his wings and a commission in 1931.

Lieutenant Colonel Addison Earl Baker (January 1, 1907 – August 1, 1943) was commander of the 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) in the U.S. Army Air Forces who led the group on the low-altitude Allied bombing mission of oil refineries at Ploieşti, Romania, Operation Tidal Wave. For his actions during World War II he received the United States of America's highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor (posthumously).