Dog Tags Found In New Mexico Belonged To Bristol Soldier

BRISTOL, Tenn. – The discovery of a World War II dog tag that once belonged to Gurney C. Baker of Bristol, Tenn., has led to a search for the man or any surviving family member.

Ken Power, who owns Blank Page Productions in Carlsbad, N.M., was working on a documentary featuring the Carlsbad U.S. Army Air Field when about three weeks ago he and other filmmakers happened upon 10 to 15 rusted dog tags.

Power contacted the Herald Courier last week to say he was placing advertisements in newspapers and making calls in an attempt to return the items.

A Gurney Baker is listed as being born in May 1925 and having died in September 1986 in Bristol, Tenn., according to worldvitalrecords.com. But that doesn’t guarantee his identification.

That’s why anyone with knowledge of Gurney or the whereabouts of his family or friends is asked to contact the newspaper.

“While we were out surveying and documenting the foundations of the buildings that were there, we began to find mementos of the base ranging from pilot wings, grenade canisters, cadet insignias, and of course, the dog tags,” Power said Tuesday from New Mexico.

He said the group decided to try to return such items to the military personnel – if they are alive – or to their family members.

“We’ve returned one to the actual veteran himself in New York,” Power said. “These veterans would be anywhere from 85 to 93 years old now, but we’re going to make every attempt to find these men or their descendants.”

The dog tags the production company absolutely cannot return will be displayed at the training center in a glass case dedicated to the base, he added.

A dog tag is the informal name for the stamped metal identification tags worn by military personnel. As with most dog tags, Gurney’s has several identifying marks, including his name, his serial number, blood type, next of kin and address at the time.

Gurney most likely would have been at the base between 1941 and 1945, Power said. 

His next of kin was listed as Mrs. Clayr (or Clair) A. Baker with a Bristol, Tenn., address. A visit to the home this week yielded no results.

“I’ve lived here a long time – about 20 years – and I know nothing about anyone with that name,” said a Mrs. Hall. “Sorry.”

Power said he and his crew sat around talking and decided to form a group to preserve the history and the memory of the base, starting with the parade grounds.

“We formed the Carlsbad Army Airfield Preservation Group,” he said. “After talking to the director of the Permian Basin Training Center, which still utilizes parts of the base, he said he would be glad to let us do what we needed to do because he feels very strong about it also.”

Currently, the group is rebuilding the stone base around the flagpole and preparing to raise a large American flag that was donated to the group.

“It was at this field where bombardiers were trained using Beechcraft AT-11s,” said Lt. Col. Reid McCloskey, a former pilot trainer at the base and now 85 years old. “There were a lot of people that passed through here from 1941 through 1946, and I don’t remember anyone by that name [Baker].”

There may have been between 2,000 to 3,000 military personnel at the site at any given time during the war, Power said.

It’s not clear whether Baker was an instructor or student during his time at the base. But whatever his status, the base itself receives high praise in a book titled, “A Short History of the Carlsbad Army Air Field,” – a book Power found while making the documentary.

“The men who leave with new bombardier wings and officer bars are rated as the best-trained airmen in history,” according to an excerpt from the book.

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