Ol'Harry

A WARRIOR AND A GENTLEMAN

Two full-time RV couples, both from Greensboro, but unknown to each other, camped side by side at Hagan-Stone RV Park.  Deluges came, both RVs bogged down to their axles.  The other couple was bogged down in a custom-made Foretravel bus.  My wife and I were bogged down in a Winnebago. 

DAVID & DAWN CARTER

With their help, the Winnie finally tracked out to dry land.  With our help, their Foretravel sank deeper, eventually bog-extracted by a biggie-sized tow vehicle.

Fast forward two RV lifetimes, the Foretravelers and the Winnie couples find themselves living side by side – unknowingly -- in Greensboro villas.  As is too often the case, only after David Carter died did I realize what I had missed by not knowing him better.  Or, by asking a few questions.

Those at Greensboro’s Curry High School knew Carter well.  They had an inkling he would be successful, seeing that he was Senior Class president, school newspaper editor, Key Club, Curry Club, Quill & Scroll, lettered in football and track, and more.

However, it is doubtful his Curry classmates had any inkling Carter would join the National Guard even before finishing high school in 1956.  After all, his parents were Quakers.  His father was pastor of Glenwood Friends Meeting.

Local trivia buffs can have their say about Curry School, but here are a few hints.  Named after a financial supporter, Jabez Curry, the neighborhood school opened in 1902 and closed in 1970.  It offered practical experience for students and practice teachers at UNCG.

For those thinking Carter would opt for college, they were correct, but their timing was off.  During twenty-four years of Army service, he earned a BA degree from the University of Nebraska and a master’s degree from the University of Utah.

After advancing from private to Specialist 5, David Carter completed Officer Candidate School and was commissioned as a 2^nd Lieutenant.  Already a paratrooper and Green Beret, Carter earned his wings as a helicopter pilot.  He was a helicopter flight instructor before his first deployment to Vietnam. 

Carter’s combat tours can almost be date-lined by his litany of personal awards.  In September, 1967, he was presented a bronze star for meritorious service during ground operations. 

In March, 1968, he was awarded a purple heart for wounds received in combat.  In July, 1968, he won a distinguished flying cross for heroism in aerial flight.

In August, 1968, Carter volunteered to take his Chinook helicopter on a dangerous night-time resupply mission to a forward position.  Weather forced gunship escorts to turn back, but Carter completed the mission in the face of withering artillery, small arms and machine gun fire.

 

As a result of this mission, Major General Melvin Zais, commanding general of the 101^st Airborne Division, presented Carter a silver star, the nation’s third highest valor award.

Carter survived five helicopter crashes – three from enemy fire and two from other causes.  He wrote later regarding his retirement, “The Army decided it was cheaper to pay me a pension than to keep me flying!”

He made at least one unscheduled trip back to the States while serving in Vietnam, but it wasn’t to his liking.  He was tasked to escort the remains of a fallen friend.

DAVID CARTER SERVED WITH VALOR & DISTINCTION

Carter earned the incredible number of fifty-seven air medals, with valor device, representing meritorious service in combat involving aerial flight.   He was a master aviator and master parachutist, and expert marksman with seven different weapons.

Commanding both air and ground forces, he was awarded two army commendation medals and a meritorious service medal for Vietnam service, as well as gallantry awards from the Republic of Vietnam.

A naval officer who served with Carter acknowledged his vast array of personal decorations, “But what impressed me more -- David Carter was a gentleman, he did not smoke, drink or use vile language -- he never wavered from his Quaker values.”

In the early seventies, Carter completed the 82^nd Airborne Jumpmaster Course, Special Forces Officers School, and was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. 

CARTER'S PERSONAL AWARDS WERE UNIQUELY UNIQUE

He was selected as a member of the National Emergency Airborne Command Post (NEACP) battle staff.  Known colloquially as the doomsday aircraft of the cold war era, U.S. forces could be commanded from this aircraft in case of an extreme national emergency.

After his military retirement, Carter founded an insurance and investment firm, which he and his wife operated successfully for over twenty-five years.  In addition to his wife, he left three sons, two daughters, and three grandchildren.  To them, he left a military, moral, and entrepreneurial heritage like few others. 

Memorial Day (2013), was the family’s first after Carter’s death.  While David Carter died unexpectedly, he left his affairs in impeccable order.  It would not be surprising to learn he left specific instructions for his progeny’s first Memorial Day observance without him.