Former postmaster honoured for Vietnam service

A former Balderton postmaster will be honoured during a ceremony at the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, The Wall, in Washington DC.

The name of Mr Bobby Baker will be read aloud during the In Memory Day ceremony on April 19. At the end, a certificate bearing his name will be placed at the memorial.

The certificate, along with personal items that belonged to Mr Baker, will be collected by the National Park Service and stored in its permanent archive.

His name will be added to the In Memory Honour Roll as a reminder of his service and sacrifice.

Mr Baker served with the United States Air Force from December 1962 until April 1985. He served in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970.

He and his wife, Mrs Shirley Baker, moved to England in 1980.

Mr Baker retired from the air force and they lived in Fairford until 1988 when Mr Baker was offered a job in Turkey. They lived there for eight years, returning to England in 1995.

On their return they decided to look for a post office to buy and decided the business on London Road, Balderton, was ideal.

They moved there in January 1996 and ran the post office until December 2001, when it was sold because of Mr Baker’s poor health. The couple moved to South Muskham.

While in Balderton Mr Baker became ill and developed ulcers on his left leg.

He first had toes amputated and then, in June 1998, the lower part of his leg.

Within four years he had lost the lower part of his right leg and the upper part of his left leg. He also suffered a stroke and two heart attacks.

Mrs Baker said: “He was well known at Grantham Hospital and never ceased to be grateful to them for the care he received.”

Mrs Baker said medical tests established that his illnesses were as a result of exposure to Agent Orange, a herbicide and defoliant contaminated with TCDD used by the US military in its herbicidal warfare programme during the Vietnam War.

In 2005 the couple, who were both members of Newark Salvation Army, returned to the USA, where Mrs Baker still lives.

Her husband died in December 2008, aged 66.

He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Washington DC, as his family wanted him honoured with a full military service.

Mrs Baker said: “My family and I are extremely proud that he will be remembered at the In Memory Day ceremony.

“I think that he and all the other men and women who serve their countries deserve every recognition that can be given to them.”