MONROE - Lois Baker knows she has had an eventful life. In 95 years, many would agree she's done more things than most will ever experience, and she added another last week after taking part in the Chicago Honor Flight. She was a member of the U.S. Army Women's Medical Specialist Corps, First Lieutenant, who served in World War II.
Volunteers lined the terminal to thank the veterans for their service before and after their full day of experiencing the monuments in Washington D.C. on Oct. 11. Baker said the amount of more than 100 people waiting and ready for them was remarkable.
"Everywhere we went things were so well organized," she said. "I walked in to three women singing Andrews Sisters songs from World War II. Every detail was planned and done well."
Her guardian for the day, Kristina Herriott, RN, said spending the day with Baker was an honor.
"She's an amazing woman who broke molds and pushed boundaries," Herriott said. "She is such a strong lady who knows what she wants and doesn't let anything stand in her way."
It was the first time Baker saw the World War II monument, the Vietnam Women's Memorial and the Korean War Monument. She once held her pilot's license and says she also enjoyed the National Air and Space Museum.
Baker was raised in the 1920s, and the family moved often for her father's work, eventually settling in Louisiana.
Her older brother joined the ROTC on a scholarship, was assigned to a tank battalion out of Janesville and in November 1941 was sent to Bataan in the Philippines. It was the last they heard from him. He died in the Bataan Death March and has a grave in Arlington National Cemetery.
She said his death is what inspired her to consider the military. She was in college when he went MIA.
When she found an ad in Readers Digest saying the Army needed physical therapists, she saw it as a way to help her brother. She couldn't visit him at the cemetery in last week, but Herriott has promised to send her a photo. Baker was serving in London when his remains were returned to the U.S.
Once accepted, she borrowed $500 from her father to make the trek from Louisiana to Rochester, Minnesota, on a bus that January.
"I was wearing bobby socks and a skirt," she said. "I had never lived north and never thought to dress warmer."
She was part of a one-year internship at Mayo Clinic and then moved to LaGarde General Hospital, an Army hospital in New Orleans, to be closer to home. She became a physical therapist in a field of mostly women and was sworn in as one of the first female Army officers in March 1943. In late June she was sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as one of four women among 15,000 men. They were put under guard.
She already knew John, her fiance, from college.
"He went to Nevada in the Navy and I went overseas," she said. "I liked to pick on him about that. I also outranked him."
She was sent to England in July 1944, just after D-Day and boarded the HMS Queen Elizabeth to ferry across the Atlantic Ocean for a week with about 10,000 others.
She worked in the 147th Station Hospital. Baker said soldiers with minor injuries were treated so they could return to battle. Those with more severe injuries were sent home and those which were fatal were sent to a safe place in Northern England.
When victory in Europe came May 8, 1945, fewer wounded people came to the hospital. Baker was sent to serve in the 75th General Hospital in Eastern France. She spent her free time traveling, even riding the train to watch the Nuremberg Trials.
"I think a lot of it has been forgotten," she said of the trials. "I regret that because there were some important things that happened there."
She made it home in January 1946, sent back on a small ship where everyone was sick, including the crew. She returned to Louisiana and married John that April, the start of 68 years together.
The couple took advantage of the GI Bill, and Baker continued her work in physical therapy until 1986.
Losing her brother, as well as her own experiences while serving, was part of the reason Baker became an active pacifist. She strongly opposed the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, protesting peacefully with the Witness for Peace organization, and has been arrested several times.
She also worked to do as much good as she could in the world. While in Houston, she was involved in helping an organization build medical facilities and schools in Mexico.
The year she turned 80, she announced in her Christmas letter she planned to walk the Appalachian Trail. She asked people to pray for her, join her, ignore her, wish her well or sponsor her. She raised $20,000 after walking 312 miles. She worked with the United Nations to clear a field of landmines for children in other countries after the physical therapist in her couldn't stand to see so many young amputees.
"The response was absolutely incredible," she said. "People I didn't know were pledging me."
When the Iraq War started, she was arrested again, this time for praying outside the gate of the White House and later for praying on the floor of the Senate.
She was in her 80s when she moved to Monroe to be closer to her daughter, Nancy Baker, a local lawyer.
"My life has been more calm and serene since I've moved here," she said with a laugh. "If there's something you want to do, then do it and don't put it off. You may not get the chance again later."
The Chicago Honor Flight was a great way to experience so many monuments she hadn't seen before, but it also brought back some strong sentiments for her.
"It was meaningful," she said. "I didn't realize how much emotion I had about my brother."
Her son, John, and daughter-in-law, Marilyn Baker, greeted her at her return.
"She told me she didn't feel like she did anything extraordinary," Marilyn said. "But she's underestimating herself. Not everyone stepped up. She is deserving of the honor of our thanks and she did something extraordinary there."
For more information about Honor Flight Chicago, visit honorflightchicago.org or call 773-227-8387.
Volunteers lined the terminal to thank the veterans for their service before and after their full day of experiencing the monuments in Washington D.C. on Oct. 11. Baker said the amount of more than 100 people waiting and ready for them was remarkable.
"Everywhere we went things were so well organized," she said. "I walked in to three women singing Andrews Sisters songs from World War II. Every detail was planned and done well."
Her guardian for the day, Kristina Herriott, RN, said spending the day with Baker was an honor.
"She's an amazing woman who broke molds and pushed boundaries," Herriott said. "She is such a strong lady who knows what she wants and doesn't let anything stand in her way."
It was the first time Baker saw the World War II monument, the Vietnam Women's Memorial and the Korean War Monument. She once held her pilot's license and says she also enjoyed the National Air and Space Museum.
Baker was raised in the 1920s, and the family moved often for her father's work, eventually settling in Louisiana.
Her older brother joined the ROTC on a scholarship, was assigned to a tank battalion out of Janesville and in November 1941 was sent to Bataan in the Philippines. It was the last they heard from him. He died in the Bataan Death March and has a grave in Arlington National Cemetery.
She said his death is what inspired her to consider the military. She was in college when he went MIA.
When she found an ad in Readers Digest saying the Army needed physical therapists, she saw it as a way to help her brother. She couldn't visit him at the cemetery in last week, but Herriott has promised to send her a photo. Baker was serving in London when his remains were returned to the U.S.
Once accepted, she borrowed $500 from her father to make the trek from Louisiana to Rochester, Minnesota, on a bus that January.
"I was wearing bobby socks and a skirt," she said. "I had never lived north and never thought to dress warmer."
She was part of a one-year internship at Mayo Clinic and then moved to LaGarde General Hospital, an Army hospital in New Orleans, to be closer to home. She became a physical therapist in a field of mostly women and was sworn in as one of the first female Army officers in March 1943. In late June she was sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, as one of four women among 15,000 men. They were put under guard.
She already knew John, her fiance, from college.
"He went to Nevada in the Navy and I went overseas," she said. "I liked to pick on him about that. I also outranked him."
She was sent to England in July 1944, just after D-Day and boarded the HMS Queen Elizabeth to ferry across the Atlantic Ocean for a week with about 10,000 others.
She worked in the 147th Station Hospital. Baker said soldiers with minor injuries were treated so they could return to battle. Those with more severe injuries were sent home and those which were fatal were sent to a safe place in Northern England.
When victory in Europe came May 8, 1945, fewer wounded people came to the hospital. Baker was sent to serve in the 75th General Hospital in Eastern France. She spent her free time traveling, even riding the train to watch the Nuremberg Trials.
"I think a lot of it has been forgotten," she said of the trials. "I regret that because there were some important things that happened there."
She made it home in January 1946, sent back on a small ship where everyone was sick, including the crew. She returned to Louisiana and married John that April, the start of 68 years together.
The couple took advantage of the GI Bill, and Baker continued her work in physical therapy until 1986.
Losing her brother, as well as her own experiences while serving, was part of the reason Baker became an active pacifist. She strongly opposed the Vietnam War and the Gulf War, protesting peacefully with the Witness for Peace organization, and has been arrested several times.
She also worked to do as much good as she could in the world. While in Houston, she was involved in helping an organization build medical facilities and schools in Mexico.
The year she turned 80, she announced in her Christmas letter she planned to walk the Appalachian Trail. She asked people to pray for her, join her, ignore her, wish her well or sponsor her. She raised $20,000 after walking 312 miles. She worked with the United Nations to clear a field of landmines for children in other countries after the physical therapist in her couldn't stand to see so many young amputees.
"The response was absolutely incredible," she said. "People I didn't know were pledging me."
When the Iraq War started, she was arrested again, this time for praying outside the gate of the White House and later for praying on the floor of the Senate.
She was in her 80s when she moved to Monroe to be closer to her daughter, Nancy Baker, a local lawyer.
"My life has been more calm and serene since I've moved here," she said with a laugh. "If there's something you want to do, then do it and don't put it off. You may not get the chance again later."
The Chicago Honor Flight was a great way to experience so many monuments she hadn't seen before, but it also brought back some strong sentiments for her.
"It was meaningful," she said. "I didn't realize how much emotion I had about my brother."
Her son, John, and daughter-in-law, Marilyn Baker, greeted her at her return.
"She told me she didn't feel like she did anything extraordinary," Marilyn said. "But she's underestimating herself. Not everyone stepped up. She is deserving of the honor of our thanks and she did something extraordinary there."
For more information about Honor Flight Chicago, visit honorflightchicago.org or call 773-227-8387.