Marine Lance Cpl. David R. Baker

Died October 20, 2009 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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22, of Painesville, Ohio; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Oct. 20 while supporting combat operations in Nawa district, Afghanistan.

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Pendleton Marine dies in Afghanistan

Staff report

A California-based Marine was killed after a roadside-bomb blast Tuesday in Afghanistan, according to reports.

Lance Cpl. David R. Baker, 22, of Painesville, Ohio, died during a foot patrol in Helmand province. A mortarman, he was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, out of Camp Pendleton.

Baker enlisted in August 2006, shortly after he graduated from Riverside High School in Painesville Township, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer. His unit was scheduled to return to California in late November, the newspaper reported.

“He was fighting,” his father, Mark, told the Plain Dealer. “He was fighting every day. He was the guy who always volunteered to be point.”

Mark Baker told a Cleveland TV station that his son was planning to go to school after returning from his tour this fall.

“He had a very quiet demeanor very much in the background — kind of shy. He went from being a shy insecure homesick kid to, I mean, my son’s a hero,” his father told Fox 8.

Baker will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, his family said.