A reckoning with the Revolution. Start with ‘Freedom Trail.'
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We need a new history of the Revolution.
Barbara Brown
Brookline
The writer is the founder of Hidden Brookline.
I am pleased to read about how museums are understanding that the whole picture of the Revolutionary War needs to be presented and that the Concord Museum is taking clear steps to include the marginalized citizens of the period to make a full-bodied history ('Evolutionary thinking on Revolutionary War').
I always wonder which source material folks use. This project brought immediately to mind Howard Zinn's 'A People's History of the United States' and Ray Raphael's 'A People's History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence.' These authors deserve credit for having taken this subject on
decades before it became fashionable for people in influential positions to do so.
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Sara Driscoll
Jamaica Plain
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I was in at a time when women were still not allowed to go into combat units,' Baker said. She was active duty from 1989-1995, and tried to re-enlist twice, but health complications prevented it. The Navy was a career path chosen from a default position. At the recruiting center, Baker wanted to know what would get her out of her hometown of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, the fastest. 'Enlisting was a spur of the moment decision,' Baker said. 'I was just ready for something different. I was in such a small town, there wasn't much to offer. And I had no desire at that point to go to college, so I took the plunge.' Wanting the fastest route helped Baker land on the construction mechanic pathway, despite the recruiter's encouragement that Baker pursue 'typical female jobs' like a personnel specialist (formerly personnelman) or a hospital corpsman. The choice turned out to be fortuitous, because in time Baker was asked if she wanted to be part of an underwater construction team, or transfer to Camp David. She chose the latter. 'The first time I ever saw my daddy cry, was when I told him I had enlisted. He had wanted to go into the service, he tried every branch, but he was deaf in one ear, so that kept him out. And then mama, she told me, 'Well Carla, you never know. You might meet the president.' She would eventually meet six presidents. 'I met all the way back to (Richard) Nixon,' Baker said. Baker was on site for the former Russian president Boris Yeltsin's trip to Camp David. And when Barbara Bush broke her ankle while sledding, it was Baker who accompanied the First Lady to the hospital. Baker, who today serves as the commander of the American Legion Douglas Laws Post 52 in Harrodsburg, said she encourages any young person who she thinks would succeed in the military to pursue enlistment. 'When I talk to anybody about the military, I say it is so easy to take a civilian, put them through boot camp and turn them into a military person,' Baker said. 'But once you're a military person, you're not coming back to civilian. I'm not the same person I was when I joined up.' She wouldn't trade her service years for anything. But that doesn't mean everything was always smooth sailing. 'We did the same job that men did, and we had to work harder than the men to be taken seriously… We were signing petitions saying that we wanted the same rights as the men who served… We fought tooth and nail for everything that we have gotten.' She recalled a story from June 2022, when Honor Flight Kentucky hosted 135 women, including Baker, on the first female-only Honor Flight. There was a younger woman on the flight who kept trying to speak with Baker, but the logistics of the day kept them apart. Finally, as the day was winding down, the two women spoke. Baker said the young woman was eager to learn about the elder veteran's service. Baker was quick to tell her she never served in combat or combat-facing battalions. 'I said, 'Hon, I was in during a time when women were not allowed to go to combat.' Of course, I told her we signed petitions and spoke out about deserving the same rights (as men). She gave me tears because she gave me the biggest hug and she thanked me.' She said, 'If you had not done what you did, I could not have done what I did.'' Baker said all she wanted then is all she wants now — to be taken seriously for her role, protecting and serving her country. 'America is free because of sacrifices made by individuals willing to stand up for our freedoms. I loved the Navy; I loved everything about it,' Baker said. 'It was the feeling like you were doing something worthwhile and something that mattered,' she said. 'There's nothing I could do now that would ever compare to what I did when I was basically a kid. There's nothing that will ever live up to the experiences that I had in the Navy.'
