THE WALL OF FACES

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

PFC Aquilla Baker is buried in Section 14, Site 737 of the Little Rock National Cemetery in Little Rock, AR. His first name on the headstone is spelled with 2 "L's".

Your sacrifice is not forgotten.

HOOAH

You will forever remain in our hearts and prayers

Operation Wahiawa was a search and destroy operation conducted by the 25th Infantry Division in Hau Nghia Province, lasting from May 16 to 30, 1966. U.S. intelligence indicated that the Viet Cong 1st Battalion, 165A Regiment, and its headquarters and supply depots were located in the Filhol Rubber Plantation, the Ho Bo Woods, and the Boi Loi Woods. The Division's units moved from objective to objective with almost no enemy resistance, although on occasion they ran into sniper fire, land mines, and booby traps. However, a friendly fire incident occurred on the second day of the operation when elements of C Company, 4th Battalion, 23rd Infantry, were mistakenly fired on by friendly helicopters five miles north of Cu Chi village in the Ho Bo Woods area. Three men were wounded in the 11:16 AM mishap, one fatally. Infantryman PFC Aquila Baker died after he was hit in the neck by the errant rounds. Days later, tragically, the Baker family in North Little Rock, AR, sustained a second loss when Paul Baker Jr., father of Aquila, suffered a fatal stroke only hours after receiving a Department of Defense telegram informing him that his son had been killed in Vietnam. [Taken from coffeltdatabase.org, “Army 1966 25th Inf Div AAR Op Wahiawa - Combat Operations After Action Report for Operation Wahiawa” at ttu.edu, and “Combat Operations: Stemming the Tide, May 1965 to October 1966” by John Carland; also, “Father Dies On Receipt Of Bad News.” Publication and date unknown]

Thank you for your service to our country so long ago sir. It saddens me so few have left remembrances for you....surely you deserve better. Rest in eternal peace.