William E Baker

William E. Baker was a member of Service Battery, 38^th Field Artillery Battalion, 2^nd Infantry Division.  He was among the men who kept ammunition moving forward to the battalion’s firing batteries.  He was captured near Kunu-ri, North Korea, on 30 November 1950.  After a few days in the local area, he began marching, usually at night, from village to village, arriving at Pukchin-Tarigol, the site of a large mining camp, on or about Christmas Day.  Men from several groups gathered there.  Conditions were very bad, but at least they were out of the wind.  In January 1951, he marched on to permanent Camp 5 on the south bank of the Yalu River at Old Pyoktong, passing the rest of the Winter there.  During the Summer that followed, he went by barge down the Yalu River to a new site, Camp 3 below Changsong, where he spent the rest of the war.  He returned from captivity on 28 August 1953.

Meanwhile, the Chinese had changed their tactics, trying to indoctrinate POWs in study sessions.  Bill was able to take notes, but not on what the Chinese intended.  He wrote down the names of friends and companions, in hopes of getting them out should any not return.  Some of these men died in captivity, but many others returned.  When we borrowed the book, out best hope was in being able to reconstruct who moved between Camp 5 and Camp 3, and this was one of the resources that helped us to do so.  We often chat with friends at FBI and other agencies, but we did the immediate work here, at Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office.  We are very thankful for the information Bill provided.  In many cases it was not unique, for other friends had also spoken of companions, but it helped to fill in a lot of the details.  We know who returned home, and we know, with pretty good reliability, who died in captivity, when and where.  This will be very helpful if we are ever allowed to work in North Korea again, as we have in several past years.