More detail on this person: T-41 crash into a
mountain.
Pilot dies in plane crash in Arkanas
A 25-year-old Hardy County helicopter pilot and
veteran of Vietnam fighting who had only a week to
go for his discharge from the Army was found dead
in the wreckage of a light military plane north of
Waktron, Ark., Sunday.
He was Capt. Ralph W. Baker of Rockoak, near
Baker. Also found dead in the plane was First Lt.
Joel Craft of Springfield, VA.
A third occupant, First Lt. Roger Elissagaray,
Tracy, Calif., was found alive.
According to the United Press International, the
three men were on route from Mississippi to
Oklahoma when the plane crashed in the area north
of Waldron on Friday. The wreckage was not
located until Sunday.
Capt. Baker was the son of Robert L. and Marie
(Ban) Baker of Rockoak. His only other survivor
is a brother, Frank Baker, Petersburg.
A graduate of Moorefield High School and Potomac
State College, he received a bachelor of science
degree in business administration from West
Virginia University in January 1966.
Commissioned a second lieutenant upon graduation
from W.V.U., he joined the Army in May 1966.
After service at verious posts in the United
States, where he was trained as a heliocpter
pilot, he was sent to Vietnam in October 1967 to
serve with the 150th Aviation Company.
He was promoted to captain while there and
returned to the states in October 1968. During
his service there, he was personal pilot for a
number of leading Army generals.
Capt. Baker was to have been discharged next
Monday at Camp Rucker, Ala.
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 05/13/2023
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