VIETNAM - BAKA, JAMES ALEXANDER

Baka, James Alexander

VIETNAM - BAKA, JAMES ALEXANDER
BAKA, JAMES ALEXANDER

Rank: Specialist 4

Unit: B Troop, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment

MOS: 11B – Infantryman

Awards: Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

Badges: Combat Infantryman Badge

Unit awards: Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device

Enlisted by: Regular

Date of birth: 12-Feb-1948

Hometown: South Portland, Maine

Marital status: Never Married

Campaign: Vietnam Conflict

Entered service: 28-Jun-1967

Start of tour: 29-Sep-1968

Incident date: 18-Apr-1969

Date of casualty: 18-Apr-1969

Age at death: 21

Cause of death: Hostile, Died. Grenade. Multiple fragmentation wounds.
James Alexander Baka was killed while gunner on a military vehicle on a combat operation when a hostile force was encountered. / Gunner on Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) on combat operation when engaged hostile force in firefight.

Nine Blackhorse troopers died as a result of this incident:
SP4 James Alexander Baka
SP4 Thomas M. Fitzpatrick
2LT Daniel Michael Leahy
SP5 Roy Francis Maas
SGT Don Jay McAtee
SP4 Robert Leroy Morgan Jr
SP4 Joseph Edward Morrow Jr
SP4 Donald William Noel
SP4 Ronald Eugene Pongratz

Location of fatality: Tay Ninh, South Vietnam, XT 430 600

Place of interment: Forest City Cemetery, South Portland, Maine, USA

View this soldier‘s Find a Grave page (opens in a new window)

Vietnam Veterans Memorial panel and row: 27W 105 (view Vietnam Veterans Memorial link in a new window)