Honoring Sergeant Carter Read Online Free Page B

Ebony magazine article. Was this what they had against him? I didn’t know. I had questions, but I hadn’t found any answers.
    Â 
    E arlier in the spring of 1996 a scandal broke in Los Angeles about cemeteries. Remains reportedly were being dug up and other bodies buried in the graves. We heard a news report about it, and Mildred started pressing me to go to the cemetery to make sure Eddie’s body hadn’t been dug up. To my surprise, she described exactly where the grave was located in the cemetery, in a corner by a big tree. She said, “I know this because I used to go there after work, and I’d lay on his grave and cry. I would say ‘Why did you leave me? Why did you leave me?’ I did that many a night.”
    When I visited the place, it turned out to be an old veterans cemetery and not very well maintained. I foundthe gravesite where Mildred said it would be. The place was somewhat unkempt but Eddie’s headstone was there and the grave appeared to be undisturbed…except for what looked like a plastic bag lying next to the headstone. Thinking it was trash, I picked it up. Inside I discovered a newspaper article about Eddie being nominated for the Medal of Honor. Who had put this here? There was no note or name, only the clipping. I was mystified. I tucked the clipping in my purse. I had brought a camera so I took a photo of the grave and the headstone to reassure Mildred. The headstone read: “Edward A. Carter, Jr. SFC, U.S. Army, World War II, DSC, BSM, PH & 2 OLC. May 26, 1916–January 30, 1963.”
    I made my way out of the cemetery, occasionally nearly tripping over gopher holes, and feeling increasingly annoyed that this neglected site was Eddie’s final resting place. As the grave of a soldier about to be honored with the highest award his nation could give, it seemed sadly inappropriate. It was not a hero’s burial place. For weeks I couldn’t get the image of Eddie’s grave out of my mind.
    Then, suddenly, I had an epiphany. I knew about the National Cemetery at Arlington and that many soldiers and national leaders were buried there. Eddie didn’t get the hero’s burial he deserved when he died, but now maybe he could.
    Once again I made a phone call to Gloria Long. She didn’t know what could be done, and she passed me along to an office at Arlington National Cemetery. The officialsat Arlington were not happy about my proposal. Why did I want to do this? They said they were going to come to Los Angeles and put a new headstone on his grave. If they did what I wanted for him, they would have to do it for others, they argued. They had buried him once and they weren’t going to bury him again. I stayed calm. “My question to you is,” I said, “does winning the Medal of Honor qualify him to be in Arlington?” A reluctant “yes” was the reply. “Then we want him moved there,” I said. “We can’t pay for it,” they countered. “Would you allow his body to be transported on a military flight?” “No.” They were not giving up anything, but they couldn’t deny that Eddie was qualified to be buried at Arlington.
    It was time for another family council. I talked with Mildred and Buddha and explained that this was something Eddie was qualified to have and he deserved it as a Medal of Honor winner. Mildred, especially, was thrilled. “I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “Let’s do it.” Buddha and the rest of the family agreed enthusiastically.
    Money was tight, because we had had to bury Iris. But we had a sense of changing history. The family told me there had been no press coverage and no fanfare when Eddie was buried in 1963, only a small, quiet ceremony. All they had left to remember him was the flag the government provided for his casket. If we’re going to do this, I said, then let’s do it in a way that involves the community. I felt that