Edward Allen Carter Jr. (May 26, 1916 – January 30, 1963) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

sergeant first class who was wounded in action during World War II. He was posthumously awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

, the nation's highest military decoration for valor, for his actions on March 23, 1945, near

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

, Germany. Carter and six other

black Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

who served in World War II were awarded the Medal of Honor on January 12, 1997. The seven recipients are the first and only black American soldiers to be awarded the Medal of Honor for World War II.

Early years

Carter was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, in 1916. He was the son of

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

parents. His father Edward Allen Carter, Sr. was

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

. His mother, Mary Albert, was born to an English father and a

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

mother in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Carter grew up in India and then moved to

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

, China. He was fluent in 4 languages: English, Hindi, German and Mandarin.

Military career

China and Spain

While in Shanghai in 1932, Carter ran away from home and joined the

National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; zh, labels=no, t=國民革命軍) served as the military arm of the Kuomintang, Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT) from 1924 until 1947. From 1928, it functioned as the regular army, de facto ...

, fighting against the invading Japanese during the Shanghai Incident. After reaching the rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

, he had to leave when it was discovered that he lied about his age and he was actually 15 years old. He eventually made his way to Spain and joined the

Abraham Lincoln Brigade The XV International Brigade was one of the International Brigades formed to fight for the Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. History The XVth Brigade mustered at Albacete in January 1937. It consisted of English-speaking volunte ...

, an American volunteer unit supporting the

Spanish Republicans The Republican faction (), also known as the Loyalist faction () or the Government faction (), was the side in the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939 that supported the government of the Second Spanish Republic against the Nationalist faction of t ...

, in their fight against the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

World War II

Carter entered the U.S. Army on September 26, 1941. As a result of his previous combat experience, he stood out among the other recruits. In less than a year, he achieved the rank of staff sergeant. Carter was part of the 56th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 12th Armored Division. Provisional platoons of African-American troops were established in the wake of the

Battle of the Bulge The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...

, which took place during the winter of 1944–1945. Black support and combat-support soldiers were allowed to volunteer for combat duty, and were given brief training in small-unit tactics. Formed into provisional units, they were used to augment depleted divisions. Soldiers volunteering for this combat duty had to surrender their current rank. When the provisional companies were set up, Carter volunteered and went from staff sergeant to private. 12th AD Soldier 1945

On March 23, 1945, Carter, then a 28-year-old infantry staff sergeant, was riding on a tank when it was hit by a ''

Panzerschreck ''Panzerschreck'' ( "tank's dread" or "tank's bane") was the popular name for the ''Raketenpanzerbüchse'' 54 ("Rocket Anti-armor Rifle Model 54", abbreviated to RPzB 54), an 88 mm reusable anti-tank rocket launcher developed by Nazi Germa ...

''. Dismounted, Carter led three soldiers across an open field. In the process, two of the men were killed and the other seriously wounded. Carter continued on alone and was wounded five times, before being forced to take cover. Eight German soldiers tried to capture him, but he killed six and captured the remaining two. He used the two as human shields from enemy fire as he recrossed the field. His prisoners provided valuable information on enemy troop dispositions for his unit. For this, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on October 4, 1945, and later promoted to sergeant first class. Carter was refused re-enlistment in the Army in 1949, due to allegations that he had communist contacts and allegiances, related to his affiliation with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain, and a "Welcome Home Joe" dinner. He died of lung cancer—attributed to shrapnel remaining in his neck—on January 30, 1963. Carter was buried at Los Angeles National Cemetery. He was re-interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

in 1997.

Personal life

He married Mildred Hoover in 1940. Together they had two sons, Edward III, born March 27, 1941, and William, born 1944.

Awards and decorations

Carter's awards and decorations include: , a Navy container ship of the

Military Sealift Command The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all U ...

, was named after Carter.

Medal of Honor

In the early 1990s, it was determined that black soldiers had been denied consideration for the Medal of Honor in World War II on grounds of their race. In 1993, the Army contracted

Shaw University Shaw University is a private historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The school had its origin in the fo ...

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

, to research and determine if there was racial disparity in the review process for recipients of the Medal of Honor. A study commissioned by the Army described systematic racial discrimination in the criteria for awarding decorations during World War II. In 1996, after an exhaustive review of files, the study recommended that ten black Americans who served in World War II be awarded the Medal of Honor. In October of that year, Congress passed legislation that would allow the Medal of Honor to be passed to seven out of the ten former soldiers. The Medal of Honor was given to Carter's son, the descendants of the other five black Americans, and the only still-living recipient,

Vernon Baker Vernon Joseph Baker (December 17, 1919 – July 13, 2010) was a United States Army first lieutenant who was an infantry company platoon leader during World War II and a paratrooper during the Korean War. In 1997, he was awarded the Medal of Honor ...

, on January 12, 1997. Out of the seven, six had their Distinguished Service Crosses revoked and upgraded.

Citation

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * * * *

External links

*
Medal of Honor Presentation, January 13, 1997
(

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) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Edward A. 1916 births 1963 deaths Abraham Lincoln Brigade members African Americans in World War II United States Army personnel of World War II American people of Bengali descent American people of Indian descent American people of English descent Deaths from lung cancer in California Military personnel of the Republic of China in the Second Sino-Japanese War Military personnel from Los Angeles Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross (United States) United States Army Medal of Honor recipients United States Army soldiers World War II recipients of the Medal of Honor Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Burials at Los Angeles National Cemetery African-American United States Army personnel 20th-century African-American people African Americans in the Spanish Civil War