Heroic Campaign for a Hero

From time to time in this nation, dead heroes’ good names are resurrected and finally given the honor and respect denied during their lifetimes. Often overlooked are the people who made it happen, persevering for perhaps years.

A case in point is that of Edward A. Carter Jr., an African American and an Army sergeant during World War II, and Allene Carter, the determined wife of Carter’s eldest son. For Allene Carter, even the nation’s highest military honor was not quite good enough.

It had been Edward Carter’s mission in life to be a soldier. His most heroic moment came near the end of World War II as Allied troops pushed into Germany. Carter, already shot five times and his colleagues dead, killed six German soldiers and captured two others. But the Army was suspicious of Carter’s alleged communist ties. When he tried to reenlist after a short fling at civilian life, he was turned down. He died in 1963.

Thanks to Allene Carter’s persistence and requests under the Freedom of Information Act, Carter was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor and burial in Arlington National Cemetery in 1997. But she did not rest until the Army issued an apology, which finally came on Wednesday. “It’s an end to that dark cloud that has been hanging over the family for about 50 years now,” she told reporters. “It means more to the family” than the medal.

Forgotten heroes are restored through the good work of people like Allene Carter.