Baker William Pratt

Monuments

Rodenbush (Bush) and Baker Memorial Stone - Cenotaph, WW1

Name:

William Pratt Baker

Rank:

Seaman 2nd Class

Serial Number:

Unit:

U.S.S. Wainwright

Date of Death:

1917-10-23

State:

New York

Cemetery:

Suresnes American Cemetery, Suresnes, France

Plot:

Tablets of the Missing

Row:

Grave:

Decoration:

Comments:

When William Pratt Baker was born on August 9, 1899, in Brunswick, Georgia, his father, Louis, was 23 and his mother, Mable, was 18. He had one brother and two sisters.

In the summer of 1916, he went to Brooklyn, where he secured employment in the Navy yard. In October of that year, he enlisted in the Navy. His knowledge of electrical subjects caused him to be transferred to the radio department, in which branch he was serving when his untimely death occurred.

William lost his life while in active service by being washed overboard from the U.S.S. Wainwright during a heavy gale "somewhere at sea." He was declared Missing in Action on October 23, 1917. His remains were never recovered but his name is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing, Suresnes American Cemetery, Suresnes, France.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov, www.ancestry.com