Edward Carter

Edward Carter was the son of zealous missionary parents who ultimately ended up making their home in Shanghai, China. From the beginning, Edward showed an adventurous spirit. He left home without his parents’ knowledge and enlisted in the Chinese National Army. He knew what he wanted from the beginning and went after it with an indomitable spirit, despite major obstacles. In no time at all, Edward’s enormous ability as both a leader and combatant surfaced above his peers, and he was promoted to Lieutenant.

What no one knew, however, was that Edward was only fifteen! His skill and maturity exceeded his years and it took some time for the military to find out the true year of his birth. To his dismay, they sent him back to his parents as soon as they found out, and he ended up enrolling in the Shanghai Military School, to lend a formal cap of education to his natural abilities.

After Edward married an American, he enlisted in the US Army in 1941, right in time for WWII. He was very quickly promoted to Staff Sergeant, and when his company was drafted for combat, the military demoted him to the rank of a mere private, simply because they doubted white soldiers would be able to handle taking orders from a black leader. Edward, showing his extraordinary humility and devotion to America and his career as a military man, accepted the demotion, though his actions almost always betrayed his higher ranking.

He continually distinguished himself in combat throughout the war, and near the end of the worlwide conflict, his actions culminated in a last act of heroism when he managed to kill or wound eight enemy riflemen while wounded.

Edward was considered for the National Medal of Honor because of this act, but was given instead the Distinguished Service Cross.

But on January 13, 1997, President Bill Clinton gave the long overdue Medal of Honor to Edward’s son, in remembrance of what his father had done for this country.

Labels: african american soldiers, leaders, war heroes, WWII