Robert W. “Bob” Carter

SAILOR & PATRIOT

In His Own Words[1]

Bob Carter - 1944

I, Robert Wilson “Bob” Carter, was born in my parent’s home on Austin Avenue, Sheffield, Alabama, July 15, 1926. My father, Femster Alderson Carter, rarely used his full name. He either went by “F.A.” or more often, “Nick”. Dad was a men’s clothing merchant, born in Alabama.

Mother was Beatrice Wilson, who was born in Warrington, England, and came to the U.S.A. with her mother, three sisters and a brother, when she was in her teens. Her father was already in the country. I was always very proud of the fact that my Dad was a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War I. I was a middle child, having an older sister, Anna Frances “Sis” and a younger brother, William Alderson “Bill”.

Boyhood in a small town is like no other. We enjoyed such things as skinny-dipping in the near-by Tennessee River, family outings at our camp house on Lake Wilson, Scouting, hikes in nearby woods, sand lot football, owning small dogs with names like “Sniff” and “Jeep”, bicycling. tree climbing, overnight camp outs in “lean-tos” etc. If you read Tom Sawyer you know the kind of boyhood I had.

I started elementary education at Austin Avenue School, Sheffield, and finished at Hemphill in Birmingham, Alabama. Attended West End High school until the senior year when I dropped out at the age of 17 and enlisted in the U. S. Navy. World War II was in full swing and I was afraid I would miss out on it. After Boot Camp at Camp Perry, Virginia, I was sent to the Navy Electrical Training School at St Louis, Missouri. Based on the training received in the Navy, West End High School awarded me a diploma.

While in St Louis, I attended a Halloween party at the U. S. O. where I met my wife-to-be, Lorna May “Bonnie” Meyer. Although I had enjoyed my share of girlfriends, this was real love at first sight. (Just a few days after meeting her, I wrote my parents that I had met the girl I was going to marry.) We danced and chatted all evening. When time came to return to base, I told Bonnie I would very much like to see her again and asked for her phone number. She informed me that it was against U. S. O. rules for hostesses to give out their phone number and/or address. As she handed me a note she said she was not aware of any rule against giving out a sister’s number. Before I shipped out for the Pacific we were engaged to be married.

While waiting for further assignment on the Navy Base, Treasure Island, California, my name appeared on a posted list. It instructed that those listed were to report to a certain warehouse to draw their gear. This was a puzzle , since I already had about as much Navy gear as one person could carry. In addition to a full sea bag, sailors carried their own hammock, mattress and bedding between assignments. As I proceeded down the counter I was issued jungle green fatigues, socks, underwear and cap. This was followed by mess gear, canteen, and combat boots. When they gave me a Ka-Bar knife, I asked whether I was in the right line. I received the Navy answer – “Shut the hell up, sailor, keep moving”. The steel helmet and M1 Carbine came later. Not only had I never fired this weapon but I had never even seen one before. In Boots we qualified with the old 1903 Springfield. As a 97 pound kid, each time I fired the ’03 I had to scoot back up to the firing position. The Carbine turned out to be a very easy piece to operate and very practical in the jungle.

Overseas I earned several medals – most of them for just being there. However, the two I am most proud of are the Asiatic Pacific Campaign medal and the Philippine Liberation medal, which was awarded by the Philippine Government. After arriving in the Philippine Islands, I was temporarily assigned to a Sea Bee Unit. Following the War we discovered that that particular Sea Bee unit was scheduled for the second wave in the invasion of Japan. God bless Harry Truman and the A-Bomb. I know lots of Japs were killed by the bomb but if not for the bomb and Truman’s will to use it, there would have been a lot more of us killed on both sides. Thank God I am here to write this.

After the end of WWII and my tour of duty in the Pacific, at 19 years of age I was honorably discharged as a Petty Officer 3/c. I had qualified for PO 2/c but somehow with all of the confusion at the time my promotion never found its way into my jacket. 2/c would have been nice but 3/c is not bad for a 18 year old kid.

Click this link to see a montage of photographs of Bob’s time in the United States Navy.

The photographs, left to right, are identified as follows:

TOP ROW: Bob Carter while participating in electrical training prior to going overseas; Lorna M. “Bonnie” Meyer as a U.S.O. volunteer (Bob recognized Bonnie immediately as the girl he wanted to spend the rest of his life with).

MIDDLE ROW: Bob Carter back in Birmingham for a visit with his sister, Frances “Sis” Carter, and brother, William “Bill” Carter (also a WEHS grad); Bob Carter and girl friend Bonnie Meyer just before he shipped out; and Bob as a Sea Bee in the Phillipines.

BOTTOM ROW: Bob (at right) with two wartime buddies: Swede and Peaches.

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[1] At our request, Bob provided this summary as background information, fully anticipating that it would be rewritten to conform to a site formula. This was not meant to be. After reading it, we realized that Bob’s material captures the mindset of WWII-era patriots so perfectly that we could not better it. Herewith, then, we introduce you to a very special kind of American hero.