Lewis Jack Baldwin was born on February 7, 1922. Lewis was one of 10 children that were born to his parents. At age 6, he moved to Birmingham, Alabama. At the time that Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, Lewis was working for U.S. Steel in Birmingham. Shortly after getting married, he decided to join the Coast Guard, but found that he would be of more use to the Army.
So Lewis took a train up to Wisconsin for basic training, and was then sent to Belfast, Ireland. While there, he was one of 17 men who volunteered to join the 2nd Ranger Battalion. He finished his last 6 weeks of training in Wales and was part of the Normandy Invasion in France. From there his division pushed on into France, crossing the Siegfried Line into the Hürtgen Forest, and moving on across the Alps into Czechoslovakia. They eventually reached the outskirts of Berlin, but were not allowed to take the city, as the United States had agreed to let Russia have Berlin.
Lewis J. Baldwin was given many awards for his service. He received 5 Bronze Stars, a Silver Star, and a Purple Heart, and his name was added to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
