George Baker - Cadet

Biography

Year at ISU: 1942

George Winsel Baker was born in South Bend, Indiana on August 15, 1918. He was only six weeks old when his father, George A. Baker, died in World War I. George and his mother, Ida Baker (formerly Bezdicheck), moved to Ames, Iowa shortly thereafter.

While attending Ames High School, George played basketball, and his team won the state championship in 1936. He went on to enroll at Iowa State for two-and-a-half years before entering service.

George joined the US Navy Air Corps on January 27, 1941 in Kansas City, Kansas. He became an Aviation Cadet on May 1, 1941.

He died in a plane collision in Pensacola, Florida on June 3, 1942.

Baker's grandfather was W. Bezdicheck of Long Beach, Californina. His friends and acquaintances included Larry Owens, Bill Bliss, Bob Mentze, Jim Stephenson, Alex Jeffrey and Dean Alderman. 

Both father and son are inscribed in the Gold Star Hall.