CMM Robert Dewey Baker

Robert Dewey Baker was born May 18, 1902, in Marion, Illinois, and attended the public high school there.

The 1919 yearbook said he was a sophomore and a member of the second team in basketball.

Mr. Baker was a chief machinist’s mate on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

He was survived by his widow, Garnette Riley Baker, whom he married in Los Angeles in 1933. His mother, Letha McNew Baker, also survived him. His father, Joseph, a coal miner, died in 1934.

Mr. Baker first enlisted in the Navy in November 1920. He kept a long tradition among sailors by having multiple tattoos. He had a girl’s head on both arms, cupid on an anchor, and a hula girl.

Sources: The Decatur (Illinois) Herald; Marion High yearbook; Census; grave markers; Navy enlistment records and muster rolls, California marriage record; U.S. Veterans Administration. This profile was researched and written on behalf of the U.S.S. Arizona Mall Memorial at the University of Arizona.