I was introduced to the quiet, steady-handed and professional soldier Harold Baugh in the spring of 1971.  At the time, Harold was a Staff Sergeant assigned to Battery A, 1^st Battalion, 33d Field Artillery located in Ansbach, Germany.  I was a less than year-old Second Lieutenant.  SSG Baugh was my first platoon sergeant.  It was an nuclear-capable, Honest John Rocket, Assembly and Transport Platoon.  Naturally, I was somewhat nervous about my first assignment.  My Battery Commander was Captain James V. Hood.  He told me, “not to worry because Sergeant Baugh was the best NCO he had in the battery.”  I soon found that Captain Hood was correct.  I could not have had a better platoon sergeant and, as these things sometimes happen, a better friend.  In my 27 years of military service, Harold Baugh was the most remarkable soldier that I have known.  Besides teaching me how to become an Army Lieutenant, he was an example for all enlisted soldiers and NCOs around him.  There were many times during the two years that I was in the battery with SSG Baugh that I saw him solve difficult problems both in garrison and in the field environment that no one else could do.  My most vivid memories of SSG Baugh were when we went to the Grafenwohr Training Area in Germany.  Especially in the middle of dark, no-moon nights, SSG Baugh did his “magic” to assemble and transport large rockets in the safely and quickly without any soldiers getting injured.

It was also during this period that my wife, Joan, and I met Harold’s wife Elizabeth.  It was clear to see they were both wonderful individuals and a beautiful couple.  In the picture I shared, Harold was in the front on the left side and Elizabeth (with their first child) was in the front on the right side. 

The Army and this world were better with Harold in them.  We will miss him, forever.

COL (U.S. Army, Retired) Giacomo (Jack) Sabia and Joan Sabia