Gordon Albert Baxter (1920 - 1993)

Born 15 Feb 1920 in Dayton, Yamhill, Oregon, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Esther Isabella (Anderson) Baxter — married 31 Mar 1966 in Polk, Oregon, USA

Died 5 Jul 1993 at age 73 in Zephyrhills, Pasco, Florida, United States

Biography

Gordon Albert Baxter, son of Ray Carl Baxter and Ferne LaVere Miller, was born on the 15 Feb 1920 in Dayton, Yamhill, Oregon.^[1]

Gordon married Esther Isabella Anderson on the 31 Mar 1966 in Polk, Oregon.^[2]

Gordon passed away on the 5 Jul 1993 in Zephyrhills, Pasco, Florida.^[1][3]

Notes from Suzi's Family History Research

The following is from an interview with Phyllis Baxter, in regards to her brothers, and World War II: ^[4]

I can remember when the war was over. I had hear the news that they thought it would be over. I was rocking on a little sewing rocker with no arms on it. It was just a seat, and then the back. I had the radio up on a shelf. Sitting there rocking and swinging my feet and waiting for the news. Boy when I hear it was over, I ran out the door and I grabbed Paulette. She was just a baby. I grabbed her and went out across the street and my neighbor said 'Come on, let's go'. We took off downtown. My boys stayed with her boys. First thing you knew, we all loaded on a flatbed truck, and went around town hooting and hollering and yelling. Paulette had on a little white dress, and everybody autographed her dress. You know, I wanted to save that little dress so bad, and I never did get to. This was in North Plains, Oregon.

When the war ended, it meant my brother could come home (Harold). Harold went over a week after they bombed Pearl Harbor. He was right over there, right in the middle of it. He was hauling supplies in a truck, out to the front. That's when he got shot. His buddies, one on each side of him, got shot down. He got shot in the shoulder, and then he went to the hospital. He would write me letters. He'd say 'I'm in a cave, but 1 can't tell you where its at. We're wearing gas masks.' This was out in the Pacific. He told our dad this - he was sitting in the woods in the jungle and he was relaxing with his gun this way. You know, when you feel somebody looking at you, and you think somebody's watching you? There was a 'Jap' ... pow. He goes and gets him. He told dad about it. That guy, the "jap", was up there in a tree watching him.

My brother Gordon went into the war, but he couldn't march, or walk, because when he was at home he'd had a bike accident. A car hit him, and hurt his hip. Whenever he would walk very far, or very fast, it would hurt him. So, he had to come home. My brother Jack joined the service when he was 14 years old. He lied about his age. He looked older than what he really was. When mom got word that he was ready to go overseas, why she told on him, so they sent him home. Oh, he was mad. Ooh .... and then they made him go to school. When he got old enough, he did enlist and he went again.^[5]

Burial

Cemetery: Oakside Cemetery
Burial or Cremation Place: Zephyrhills, Pasco County, Florida, USA^[1][3]

Sources

• "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KMFH-KWS : 5 December 2014), Gordon A Baxter, enlisted 21 Sep 1940, Mcminnville, Oregon, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/223380000/gordon-a-baxter : accessed 08 November 2021), memorial page for Gordon A. Baxter (15 Feb 1920–2 Jul 1993), Find a Grave Memorial ID 223380000, citing Oakside Cemetery, Zephyrhills, Pasco County, Florida, USA ; Maintained by sheena^78 (contributor 48279692)
2. ↑ "Oregon, County Marriages, 1851-1975", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVFN-27LM : 20 February 2021), Gordon Albert Baxter and Esther Isabella Anderson, 1966.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J5ZP-8MN : 11 January 2021), Gordon Baxter, Jul 1993; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
4. ↑ Forward - courtesy Suzanne Sayer 1996
5. ↑ Interview - Phyllis Baxter Miller 1996

Acknowledgements

• WikiTree profile created by Michael Sheffield & Suzanne nee Sayer Crosby