Comic book tells story of Cheyenne native’s WWII heroics

CHEYENNE — On Feb. 15, the Association of the United States Army Book Program released a graphic novel detailing the story of Medal of Honor recipient Vernon Baker, who was born in Cheyenne.
Baker, who was Black, was originally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his valor in World War II. It was later discovered that the degree of Baker’s heroism was minimized due to racial discrimination, and that he was really deserving of the highest honor a soldier can receive.
“The military, like the rest of America, has had some trouble with representation,” said Joseph Craig, director of the AUSA book program, as well as the editor of the “Medal of Honor” series. “I think the Army has been commendable for getting ahead of that as much as possible.”
“Medal of Honor: Vernon Baker” accurately depicts the wartime achievements that resulted in Baker, along with seven other African American soldiers, being upgraded to receive the Medal of Honor in 1997.
Six of these Medal of Honor recipients from World War II were awarded the medal posthumously – all except Vernon Baker, who received his in person at the age of 70 from former President Bill Clinton.
All artwork is created by comic book industry veterans Chuck Dixon, Wayne Vansant, Peter Pantazis and Troy Peteri, who each worked on comics like “Batman,” “The Punisher,” “Justice League,” “Superman,” “Black Panther,” “Spider-Man” and “X-Men.”
Just because the story is told in a paneled cartoon doesn’t mean it isn’t historically accurate. The events depicted in the comic are based off the official written citation.
“The scriptwriter, the pencil-and-ink artists, the color or the letter artists, these are all people who have worked for big-name comic books, and we’re lucky to work with them,” Craig said. “We’re lucky to work with professional historians to vet the material and make sure that we’re getting the story out there with accurate details.”
Craig said Baker was selected not only for his heroics, but with the goal in mind of creating a diverse array of Medal of Honor stories.
“The idea of the series is to tell stories of these remarkable soldiers and share with the new generation information on Army history and Army values,” Craig said. “We want to make sure that we are telling a broad range of stories.”
Ultimately, the intention of distributing these comics is to share Medal of Honor recipients’ stories with a younger generations, with the program’s original focus groups being based off the feedback of 20- to 30-year-old servicemen and women. Many of the stories are well known, others less so.
Of the 13 issues, stories are pulled from every major American conflict, from the American Civil War and World War I to the war in Afghanistan. The graphic novels have covered Mary Walker, the only woman to receive the Medal of Honor, as well as Audie Murphy, one of the most decorated soldiers in U.S. history.
“One of the great joys about working on this series is learning more about these people,” Craig said. “One common theme that I found working with the series is that these people are very humble. They don’t blow their own horn.
“If you ask most of these people about their actions, they’ll say they were just doing their job.”
 
This story was published on Feb. 25.