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Unsung Hero: Surprising Facts About a Medal of Honor Recipient Who Fought Franco, Hirohito, and Hitler

Khalid Elhassan March 17, 2025 13 min

Black - Edward Allen Carter Jr., and the Medal of Honor he earned but did not receive during his lifetime — Edward Allen Carter Jr., and the Medal of Honor he earned but did not receive during his lifetime. Pinterest

10. An African American Lieutenant in the Chinese Army

Black - Soldiers of the Chinese 19th Route Army, in which Edward Allen Carter Jr. fought, in a defensive position during the Shanghai Incident — Soldiers of the Chinese 19th Route Army, in which Edward Allen Carter Jr. fought, in a defensive position during the Shanghai Incident. Wikimedia

Fighting in the ranks of the Chinese 19th Route Army, the teenaged Carter endured aerial bombing from Japanese carrier warplanes, shelling from Japanese artillery, and ferocious ground attacks from Japanese infantry. He showed a knack for combat, and somehow managed to get a brevet commission to lieutenant in the Chinese army. He did not get to enjoy his commission for long, however. The young warrior was sorely disappointed when he was yanked from the front lines and out of the Chinese military, when it was discovered that he was only fifteen. To Lieutenant Carter’s chagrin, he was discharged and returned to his father. By then, however, he had gotten his first taste of the front lines, and decided he liked it. As seen below, it would not be long before he was back in the thick of it.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.