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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

7. A Return to the United States

Black - Family man Edward Allen Carter Jr. with his children — Family man Edward Allen Carter Jr. with his children. Alchetron

Back in the US, after a lifetime overseas, Carter tried to settle down. In 1940, while World War II raged in Europe, he met and married his wife Mildred in Los Angeles. As the clouds of conflict drew closer, Carter sensed that it would not be long before America was drawn into the fighting. So he enlisted in the US Army in September, 1941, just three months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It was not a great time to be African American in the country’s armed forces. Blacks had played a significant role in America’s military history, despite the limited opportunities, adversity, and open hostility that they frequently had to contend with as they tried to serve their country. Particularly from higher ups who believed that blacks were racially unsuited for leadership or combat duty, and so designed and implemented policies to deny them leadership opportunities and training.

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.