"He was a scout with the regiment which seized the fortress of Corregidor, Philippine Islands. Shortly after the initial parachute
assault on 16 February 1945, he crossed 30 yards of open ground under
intense enemy fire, and at pointblank range silenced a machine gun with
hand grenades. On the afternoon of 18 February he killed 6 snipers. That
evening, when a large force attempted to bypass his company, he
voluntarily moved to an exposed area and opened fire. The enemy attacked
his position repeatedly throughout the night and was each time
repulsed. By 2 o'clock in the morning, all the men about him had been
wounded; but shouting encouragement to his comrades and defiance at the
enemy, he continued to bear the brunt of the attack, fearlessly exposing
himself to locate enemy soldiers and then pouring heavy fire on them. He repeatedly crawled back to the American line to secure more
ammunition. When his sub-machine gun would no longer operate, he seized
an automatic rifle and continued to inflict heavy casualties. This
weapon, in turn, became too hot to use and, discarding it, he continued
with an M-1 rifle. At dawn the enemy attacked with renewed intensity. Completely exposing himself to hostile fire, he stood erect to locate
the most dangerous enemy positions. He was seriously wounded; but,
though he had already killed more than 30 of the enemy, he refused to
evacuate until he had pointed out immediate objectives for attack. Through his sustained and outstanding heroism in the face of grave and
obvious danger, Pvt. McCarter made outstanding contributions to the
success of his company and to the recapture of Corregidor."
From Pvt. McCarter's Medal of Honor citation, awarded on September 10, 1945.
May you be at peace,
Brian & Mel
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