Emil Baker

Emil Baker was a Specialist E4 in the United States Army who served in combat during the Vietnam War. He was given a combat acting promotion to the rank of Sergeant and became the head of his unit, a rank he held for the remainder of his time in Vietnam.

Mr. Baker earned the Bronze Star Medal for meritorious service and the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross. He is a service-disabled veteran who was affected by Agent Orange.

After Vietnam, Mr. Baker was stationed for five months at the Sixth United States Army Headquarters at the Presidio in California, and then was transferred from active duty to the Army Reserve and served for a year in the 364th General Hospital in Albany, New York. He later spent seven years in the Individual Ready Reserve.

Following his military service, he worked for 20 years at New York Telephone/Bell Atlantic, retiring as Vice President and General Manager for New York and Vermont. Mr. Baker then opened a paging business that grew to 30 cell phone stores in three states, which he sold in 2016. Currently, he is the proprietor of the Big Moose Deli and Country Store in Hoosick Falls, which employs veterans and is the only OGS-certified Service and Disabled-owned deli and country store in New York State.

Mr. Baker has served as a U.S. Small Business Administration Score Counselor for five years, helping veterans pursue their dreams and open their own small businesses. He has served as the Vice President of the McNulty Center at the Watervliet Arsenal, the area lead for the Red Cross Service to the Armed Services Program, and as a mentor for the Saratoga County Peer Connection Program and Saratoga County Incarcerated Veterans Program.

Over the past five years, he has served as area chairman and New York State Director of Employer Outreach with the U.S. Department of Defense Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Program to help veterans find gainful employment and work with employers who hire members of the National Guard and Reserve and support their efforts to be citizen warriors for our country.

Mr. Baker testified before the New York State Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in 2018 in support of legislation which passed the Senate and Assembly, and was signed into law by the Governor, to ensure more veterans services information is accessible and available online.