VETERANS DAY
WEDNESDAY • NOVEMBER 10, 2021
DAILY JOURNAL, 1
A N A D V E R T I S I N G S U P P L E M E N T O F T H E D A I LY J O U R N A L
Serving those who served
Retired Marine Jason Baker now helps veterans get benefits
THOMAS WELLS I DAILY JOURNAL Itawamba County Veterans Affairs Officer Jason Baker may have retired from the U.S. Marines in 2014, but he’s still helping his fellow veterans. During his more than 20 years in the military, he visited 24 countries and met face-to-face with multiple presidents. These days, his work may be quieter, but he believes it’s no less important.
BY BLAKE ALSUP Daily Journal
FULTON • Jason Baker may have retired from the military in 2014, but he’s still serving his country. Or, at least, his fellow veterans. Through his work as Itawamba County’s Veterans Affairs Officer, it’s Baker’s job to help those who served their country collect the benefits owed to them. He primarily assists veterans with compensation and pension matters, but can also refer them to experts that can help get them with education, specialized health care needs, etc. “I help any veteran, not just veterans from Itawamba County,” Baker said. “I’ll assist anybody.” With more than 20 years of military service under his own belt, Baker feels a personal connection to the people he assists. Baker, 45, grew up in the Ryan’s Well community of Fulton. He graduated from Itawamba Agricultural High School in 1994 and, lacking the money necessary to attend college, joined the U.S. Marine Corps after graduation. He was 17 years old. Baker served as a Marine for the next two decades, 13 of which he spent overseas. During his time serving his country, Baker visited 24 countries and interacted with multiple U.S. presidents. Baker was first stationed at Camp H. M. Smith in Hawaii. He went to Quantico, Virginia, from there and on to Nicosia, Cyprus, where he was a clerk for the Marine Security Guard
Program. After another stay in Quantico, he was placed on Marine Security Guard duty at the U.S. embassies in Paris, France, and Lima, Peru. While stationed in France, Baker gave a security briefing to President George W. Bush. He later delivered an operational briefing to President Barack Obama. He also met President Bill Clinton during his presidency, along with many other high-level U.S. dignitaries. Baker typically moved to a new location every three to five years. After serving at the embassies, he was transferred to Washington, D.C., where he served as the J3 Deputy Directorate for Operations in the Pentagon before later being stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Although Baker had originally joined the Marines because he didn’t have the money for college, he stayed in because he was having fun and “had a good time traveling.” Having worked his way around the globe, Baker’s last station before retirement was in New Orleans, where he worked five years with the Marine Forces Reserve before retiring with the rank of Gunnery Sergeant. He retired from the Marines in July 2014, but that was far from the end of his career with the military. In June 2016, nearly two years after retiring from military service, Baker took a job as the Veterans Service Officer for Itawamba County. While studying heating and ventilation technology at Itawamba Community College in Belden, he volunteered at the Itawamba County Veterans Service Office with Erdith Eugene
Johnson, the county’s former Veterans Service Officer. Johnson asked Baker if he’d be interested in replacing him when he retired, and after an interview, Baker had the job. Through his work, Baker assists veterans and their families in receiving benefits with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), largely by ensuring they have the correct forms and medical evidence to present their cases to the VA. According to Baker, the biggest barrier between veterans and their benefits is a lack of information. That’s where he comes in. Just as it was as an active-duty Marine, Baker is “one of many” veterans service officers … a small part of a greater whole. “Like everybody, I was one of many,” Baker said of his military service. “Same with this job, I’m one of many. I just hope I’m doing a service.” Although Itawamba County may not have the same allure as Japan or Peru, and it’s been a while since he’s interacted with a U.S. President, Baker still feels the work he’s doing is incredibly important. “Getting the veterans and families benefits that they deserve, especially when they never knew that those benefits were there” is the most rewarding part of the job, he said. It’s also a task for which his experience has made him uniquely qualified. “I’ve got a unique background that I’ve served in every level of government from the Pentagon down,” Baker said. “So I understand paperwork and red tape.”
Happy Veterans Day
WE SALUTE ALL OF THE MEN AND WOMAN WHO HAVE SERVED.