When His Tank Was Crippled By A Nazi Bazooka, This U.S. Officer Went On The Rampage

Why is it so important to be decisive in a battlefield? At times, you only get fractions of seconds to decide what to do, in order to save lives. Sergeant Edward A. Carter Jr. knows this better. He also had a few seconds to decide his course of action when his tank was hit. His act of bravery and courage is still remembered even 70 years after the World War II ended. Edward Allen Carter Jr. was born in May 1916 in California. His father was an African American and his mother was from Calcutta, an Indian city. Thus, Carter knew the Indian language Hindi along with several other languages like Mandarin Chinese and German. Carter picked up Chinese during his stay in China with his parents. There he joined the Army at the age of 15. He lied about his age and due to his ability to take on the furious attack, the Chinese Nationalist Army never doubted his age. He quickly rose to the rank of Lieutenant, but when the army came to know about the truth of his age, he was sent back home. When the conditions in Shanghai worsened, carter moved to the U.S. along with his parents. His immense courage pushed him towards joining army all over again, but his request got rejected. In 1936, his passion drove him to join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain. The Spanish Civil War just broke out, so Carter joined them as volunteers, fighting against the fascist. By 1938, the fascists found support in Adolf Hitler and they outnumbered the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Carter had to flee to France along with his other fellow members. Carter was back to the States again after that. Here he fell in love and tied the knot with Mildred in 1940. Within a year of marriage, Carter joined the U.S. army just prior to the Pearl Harbor incident. His previous experience in combat gave him an upper hand among his fellow members. He was soon promoted to Staff sergeant, but sooner his past came haunting all over again. As he served under Abraham Lincoln, he was always being suspected and soon he was given administrative job. Now looking back at the event when Carter’s decision saved his and his fellow mates lives. Their tank was hit by a bazooka and Carter had only few seconds to decide what to do. He chose to come out of the tank and look for shelter along with his 3 other fellow members. It was an open field so when they ran for cover the Nazis had a clear view of them and started shooting at them. Two of his fellow members died and the other one was badly injured. Carter shot down six of them and took two captives. He used them as human shield to rejoin his unit. This is why Carter was awarded with the Distinguished Service Cross.