Private Carter Returns to Normandy
April 15, 2011
It is the end of an era. After this year, few if any men of D-Day will be returning to Normandy. But for one last moment in time, handfuls of our heroic fathers will return and Vision Forum Ministries will be giving them “A Final Farewell.” This is the story of one of the men returning with us.
Private Carter Returns to Normandy
On June 6, 1944, General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. hit Utah Beach at Normandy, leading the Army’s 4th Infantry Division. Roosevelt was the only general to land in the first wave on D-Day, and one of the first soldiers off his landing craft.
Providentially, the 4th Division landed more than a mile south of their original target where the Germans were fortified more heavily. After personally conducting a reconnaissance of the area to the rear of the beach and realizing they were off course, Roosevelt declared, “We’ll start the war from right here!” The 4th Division secured the beachhead within a few short hours and then came to the relief of troops with the 82nd Airborne Division who were isolated at St.-Mère-Église.
The 4th Division needed reinforcements, and coming to their aid were many young privates, including Pfc. Donald H. Carter, an 18-year-old soldier from New York. Carter joined his fellow “Ivy Division” comrades for the 4th Division’s next major objective as part of Operation Overlord—the taking of the Port of Cherbourg, a coastal town in Normandy. The battle for Cherbourg was arduous, lasting more than three weeks, with the final Germans surrendering on June 29. Private Carter got a colorful memento from the hard-fought engagement—a Nazi flag that flew at Cherbourg.
Carter’s fighting days had only just begun. He received five battle stars for his service in the following campaigns: Normandy, Northern France Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe. These stars included some of the most intense battles of the war in Europe, including the St. Lo Breakthrough, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge—all of them in Patton’s Third Army. Carter also took part in the liberation of Paris which marked the end to Operation Overlord.
“This Will Be My Last Trip”
It’s been many decades since Carter fought for liberty on the beaches of Normandy and across Europe. For a long time he has desired to return to the battlefields of his youth. This D-Day, as part of the Normandy: A Final Farewell team, he is finally going back.
At 86 years of age, Carter and his wife have made plans to join Vision Forum Ministries and the Faith of Our Fathers Project for Normandy: A Final Farewell—our tribute to World War II’s last living heroes. Because Carter, like all remaining World War II veterans, is in the twilight of his life, he has told his children “This will be my last trip.”
Will you help us make Normandy: A Final Farewell a special time of remembrance and celebration for Pfc. Carter and other World War II veterans as we give honor to these faithful men?
How You Can Help
To learn how you can play an important role in making this event possible, please visit our Normandy: A Final Farewell project page on Kickstarter. There you will learn about our specific needs for the project, as well as the unique rewards we are offering to those who help us honor our last living World War II heroes this D-Day.
Help Us Honor World War II’s Last Living Heroes
To visit our official Normandy: A Final Farewell website, click here.