Sergeant Matt Baker
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| Matthew Baker | |
|---|---|
| February 22, 1921-??? | |
| Nickname | Matt |
| Place of birth | St Louis, Missouri |
| Rank | Sergeant; After Normandy Staff Sergeant |
| Unit | Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 101st Airborne 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment |
Sergeant Matt Baker is a fictional character from Gearbox Software's Brothers in Arms series. Baker is the main character in Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 and is a secondary character in Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood. Baker is based off of several real life people from the 101st Airborne.
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[edit] Baker's Past
Matt Baker is the son of a military family that was unfortunately broken up by a divorce during his early childhood. Baker grew up with his mother in St. Louis, Missouri during the Great Depression. While Baker was growing up he befriended George Risner whom he considered to be a surrogate brother. After the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor both Baker and Risner volunteered for the United States Army and both volunteered for the newly activated airborne divisions. However due to a knee injury in basic training, Risner was not able to join Baker as he trained to become a paratrooper.
Baker was able to make it through the intense physical training that paratroopers are forced to undergo and got his wings. Baker's unit is 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 502 PIR (Parachute Infantry Regiment), 101st Airborne Division. Baker along with the rest of the 101st Airborne Division was sent to England and began to train for the upcoming invasion of Europe which was to be called "Operation Overlord." Baker's squad had 13 men and Baker along with Hartsock used to joke about how it was bad luck and as such both painted the number on the back of their helmets. Unfortunately it was a joke that turned out to be true, during a training exercise the original Squad Leader of 3rd Squad was injured and then Corporal Matt Baker was promoted to Sergeant and given the daunting task of leading his soldiers into combat mere days before D-Day. Him and his friend, Joe "Red" Hartsock, use to joke about how jumping into a squad of 13 was bad luck.
[edit] Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
High above the Normandy countryside on June 6, 1944 Baker and his squad were set to drop behind enemy lines and to help secure causeways leading off of Utah Beach and to otherwise disrupt German defenses. However, during the drop the inexperienced pilots that were to drop the paratroopers behind enemy lines were startled by the incredible amount of flak put up by the German defenders and as a result many C47s flew too low and/or fast to avoid the deadly flak and as a result the paratroopers were dropped all over the Normandy country side. Baker's plane was no different. However as his squad was waiting for the green light to begin their jump the plane was hit by flak (which killed Private Muzza, 3rd Squad's first casualty) which knocked Baker out of the plane. Luckily Baker's chute opened and he safely made it to the ground after some trouble with a tree.
Shortly after he touched down Baker came across his Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sergeant Greg "Mac" Hassay, and Private First Class Kevin "Legs" Legget as well as Lieutenant Colonel Robert Cole (commander of 3rd Battalion, 502nd PIR and the recipient of the Medal of Honor). Cole ordered Baker, Mac, and Leggett to continue to their objective and along the way took out several flak guns and their German defenders.
Throughout the rest of the D-Day invasion Baker leads his men through terrible and bloody battles which cost the lives of most of the soldiers from 3rd Squad. Baker participates in the capture of Objective XYZ, the capture of Vierville, paves the way for glider reinforcements, making the deadly run through Purple Heart Lane, taking part in Lt. Col. Cole's daring Bayonet Charge, the Battle of Carentan, and finally the frantic and bloody defense of Hill 30 in the outskirts of Carentan.
[edit] Baker's Inner Turmoil
Sergeant Matt Baker is a shy and quiet man that did not want to lead 3rd Squad and was not prepared for the consequences of leading men into combat. Throughout the Normandy campaign Baker makes decisions that cost him the lives of his men whom he regards as his family. On top of this Baker also witnesses the death of his best friend, George Risner. The constant fear and worry takes it's toll on Baker but due to his incredibly tough personality he is able to overcome these incredible hardships and he becomes a strong and dependable NCO (non-commissioned officer).
[edit] Baker's Squad
Baker's squad is a traditional paratrooper squad consisting of twelve soldiers, jokingly called "Baker's Dozen." Baker's soldiers include Corporal Joe "Red" Hartsock (see Sergeant Joe "Red" Hartsock), Corporal Sam Corrion, Private First Class Jack Courtland, Private First Class Stephan "Obi" Obrieski, Private Larry Allen, Pvt. Michael Garnett(see: Privates James Allen & Kevin Garnett, Pvt. Johnny Rivas, Pvt. Michael Desola, Pvt. David Muzza, Pvt. Thomas Zanovich, Pvt. Dale McCreary and Radio-Op Benjamin Kevin "Legs" Legget. Throughout the Normandy campaign the squad encounters incredible trials and overcomes every one though it hardly came out unscathed. Muzza as described above was killed in the plane before he had the chance to jump. Privates Allen and Garnett are both killed during a flanking maneuver against an enemy held farm. Pvt. Rivas was killed by a sniper on Purple Heart Lane. Pvt. Desola was killed by a Stuka dive bomber while trying to squeeze through an obsticle on Purple Heart Lane. Pfc. Obrieski was killed by a sniper during the defense of the cathedral in downtown Carentan. Finally, Pfc. Legget was killed by a tank shell burst during the defense of Hill 30. On top of the deaths in his own squad, Baker's best friend George Risner was killed when his tank was hit by a Panzerfaust anti-tank weapon.
Throughout Operation Overlord there was a feeling of mistrust and fear bubbling beneath the surface of 3rd Squad. This wasn't because they were in combat as much as they weren't sure of the leadership skills of the newly promoted Matt Baker. This general feeling was most evident in the squad's fire team leaders Cpl. Corrion and Cpl. Hartsock. Though they never questioned Baker's orders they seemed to blame him for making the decisions that ended up getting their friends killed without really understanding that in war a leader can make all the right decisions and still lose. Baker also had an aura of being unlucky or jinxed which also coincided with the 13 on the back of his helmet. After Hartsock is promoted to Sergeant and becomes the leader of 2nd Squad he begins to understand the incredible stresses and difficulties forced onto Baker and they develop a strong bond at the end of Earned in Blood.
[edit] Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
During Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood the player assumes the role of "Red" Hartsock and Baker appears as an NPC (non-playable character) in the Story Mode and as a playable character in the co-op Skirmish Mode. Baker and his squad continue their fight in Carentan after the ending of the first game and help Hartsock and his squad push the remaining Germans out of Carentan. Afterwards, Baker only appears at the ending which Baker and Hartsock finish telling their stories to Col. S.L.A. Marshall. In the Skirmish Mode, Baker uses the M1 Carbine (M1A1 variation) and the Thompson submachine gun.
[edit] Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Baker will be one of the main characters of Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (along with Hartsock) and is now leading a Recon unit attached at the HQ level. Judging from screenshots, both Baker and Hartsock have been promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant. Baker and Hartsock will lead their men through the campaign known as Operation Market Garden, which ultimately failed. Baker will indeed command the survivors of 3rd Squad in the new game (Corrion, McCreary, Courtland, and Zanovich) on top of a number of new additions to the squad. According to hints on the Ubisoft Brothers in Arms forum it's been said that most of the new additions are actually combat veterans and that the squad will only have one soldier without combat experience.
[edit] Misc. Info
Baker is most often seen during the single player campaign of Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30.using the M1 Garand rifle, Thompson submachine gun, and once the M1903 Springfield rifle. Supposedly his weapon of choice is the M1 Garand.
During the "No Better Place to Die" Mission in the Original game, if you use the "V" key when Baker is climbing onto the American tank, and look closely you can see that Baker has magically been promoted to Staff Sergeant (Although during the end cinematic Baker is in fact still a Sergeant). This is in fact an error. The Staff Sergeant rank insignia is a decal present on each of the U.S. Airborne character models in the game. Depending on the rank of the character, part of the patch is covered up by the model itself.
[edit] See also
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Staff Sergeant Greg "Mac" Hassay
Private First Class Stephan "Obi" Obrieski
Private First Class Tom Zanovich
Privates James Allen & Kevin Garnett
Private Benjamin Kevin "Legs" Legget
