Honorees

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Year Honored
2008
Honoree
Michael Baker
Agency
Air Evac Lifeteam
Agency City
Muscle Shoals
Agency State
AL
Last Call
12/30/07
Cause of Death
Medical Aviation Accident
Biography
"It's from this spot we're standing on that heroes from air rescue rise to meet the challenges of everyday," Dr. Bill Reid said. "They met that challenge on their search and rescue mission and never returned to us. Michael loved flying and he cared about people, a combination that he found fitting for his skills as a pilot.<br /> <br /> Michael Baker, of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, died in a Line of Duty death on December 30, 2007. He was piloting the medical helicopter on a nighttime search and rescue mission to help locate a hunter lost in the thick woods of the Freedom Hills Wildlife Management area. Mr. Baker and his two person team had found the hunter, and were hovering above with spotlights to guide ground crews to the location when the helicopter started sputtering and crashed to the ground bursting into flames.<br /> <br /> Pilot Baker was a one year employee of Air Evac Lifeteam out of Tuscumbia, Alabama. He worked at the Helen Keller Emergency Medical Service, based in the Muscle Shoals, Alabama location. He previously served with the U.S. Coast Guard until his retirement. Baker was a lieutenant commander in the Coast Guard Reserves.<br /> <br /> "He was known everywhere for his "kind and caring" ways," stated his sister Beth Baker. "He loved people and was a very giving individual. Besides his work with medical patients he volunteered at senior centers and arranged for Santa to visit orphanages at Christmas," she stated.<br /> <br /> Michael Baker had been cited for his heroics recently for a rescue in Michigan where he found a downed airplane before it sank in a lake.<br /> <br /> Honored 2008