32 | NOVEMBER 30 • 2023 

from numerous officers, from 
myself and from God to give 
everything I had to my job. 
I wanted to ensure the safety 
of my fellow soldiers. For the 
first time in my life, I didn’t 
look to the future to get me 
through the day.”
Rachel then shared a birth-
day with the congregation 
that she will never forget. 
“January 2023 rolled around, 
Jan. 8 arrives, my birthday. 
I turned 20 in Syria. The 
moment I woke up that day all 
I desired was a hug from my 
father.” And that was before 
she reported for duty and the 
menacing news that awaited 
her.
She received a report that 
not many people could see 
due to a lack of security 
clearances. “I read it with no 
one around me,” Rachel said. 
“Tears came streaming down 
my face as the implications 
of this threat were deadly. I 
prayed to God the moment I 
finished reading that report. 

This day is the day I under-
stood the gravity of my job 
and how being an intel ana-
lyst often entailed knowing 
something life-threatening 
could occur but not being able 
to share such details. This is 
when I also started praying 
every night for the safety of 
my fellow soldiers.”
Later in her deployment, 
Rachel was transferred to 
another base where she faced 
her greatest test yet, both to 
her job performance and her 
safety.
“My second base was 
attacked on four occasions 
by violent extremist organi-
zations,” she said. One such 
attack came after only four 
hours of sleep after a 20-hour 
workday, while Rachel was the 
singular source of intel on the 
base. 
“Our first sergeant always 
yelled at anyone whose uni-
form was out of regulations, 
but on that day I ran down to 
the command center in paja-

mas and my combat boots. 
All that was running through 
my mind were the scenes I 
witnessed of the rocket attack 
from 2014 in Israel.” 
She admitted that it was a 
far cry from what Israelis face 
every day, but it was neverthe-
less a new and chilling first-
hand perspective. 
The mounting violence and 
the ceaseless duress that went 
hand-in-hand with Rachel’s 
24/7 intel responsibilities were 
taking an obvious toll on her 
psyche. She was particular-
ly shaken when word came 
down that a U.S. contractor 
had been killed by a kamikaze 
drone. But she weathered all 
of those emotional storms 
with an even greater resolve to 
complete her mission.
There were moments during 
her deployment that brought 
Rachel some semblance of 
peace. “I took up the responsi-
bility, alongside one of the ser-
geants, to change the U.S. flag 
on base every week,” she said. 
“This was one of the most 
grounding experiences during 
my deployment. While low-
ering the flag every week, 
my eyes often stung. I was 
reminded of why I was work-
ing so hard and how much my 
fellow soldiers have sacrificed. 
This always gave me the moti-
vation I needed to continue 

giving my all.”
Rachel followed the tradi-
tion of soldiers buying their 
own flags that are flown over 
the base and given as keep-
sakes from their deployment.

BOLSTERED BY FAITH 
“Throughout my time In Syria 
I was lucky to be in contact 
with numerous Jews in the 
service who tried to find reli-
gious accommodations for 
me. I was provided an oppor-
tunity to celebrate Passover 
with other Jews in Iraq, but I 
forego this opportunity as I 
knew that no one would fill 
my place at the base, and it 
would place an undue burden 
on my team in Syria.”
She would go on with 
Passover alone. “I eagerly 
awaited busting open my very 
large can of gefilte fish, which 
my family sent me through 
Amazon. I made my first 
Passover meal, adding hum-
mus, salad, matzah, horserad-
ish and gefilte fish. I started 
eating just as a threat report 
was sent to my desk. So, on 
the first night of Passover, eat-
ing my Passover meal, I was 
looking through a camera to 
find threat indicators.” 
It’s safe to say it gave new 
meaning to “why is this 
night different from all other 
nights.”

OUR COMMUNITY

continued from page 31

SPC Rachel 
Baker celebrates 
Chanukah 2022 
with a fellow 
Jewish soldier on 
her base in Syria.

SPC Rachel Baker 
participating in pistol 
training alongside an 
infantry company.

