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thedrifter
02-06-07, 01:19 PM
Pacific Marine to get posthumous medal
By Harry Levins
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Tuesday, Feb. 06 2007

A Marine from Pacific will be awarded a combat decoration, more than six months
after he was killed in action in Iraq.

Cpl. Riley Baker's family will receive a Bronze Star at 10 a.m. on Feb. 16 in a
ceremony at the Eureka Fire Protection District Training Center, 18765 Old
Highway 66 in Pacific.

Baker, 22, was killed by a roadside bomb last June. The citation accompanying
his award refers to his "heroic achievement in connection with combat
operations" from March 2006 until his death.

The citation notes that Baker was a scout sniper team leader whose people
killed five insurgents and wounded two. On May 18, 2006, he and his team
repelled an attack by at least 10 insurgents, the citation says.

On the day he was killed, the citation says, Baker "bore the brunt of the
explosion and spared the lives of his Marines."

The medal will be presented with a Combat Distinguishing Device.

For Baker's funeral on June 30, mourners formed a funeral procession seven
miles long.

Baker was graduated in 2002 from Eureka High School. He was a state champion
wrestler, a football linebacker and king of the senior prom.

His father is Grier Baker of Pacific, a Marine Corps veteran. His mother is
Kate Melies of Union, Mo. He had two sisters, Megan Baker of Pacific and
Kristina Cordova of Denver. He also had a stepsister. Sara Melies of Union, and
two stepbrothers, Christopher and David Melies, also of Union. His stepfather
is David Melies of Union; his stepmother is Lisa Baker.

Ellie