soldiers across an open field. In the process, two of the men were killed and the other seriously wounded. Carter continued on alone and was wounded five times before being forced to take cover. Eight German soldiers tried to capture him, but he killed six and captured the remaining two. He used the two as human shields from enemy fire as he recrossed the field. His prisoners provided valuable information on enemy troop dispositions for his unit. For this, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross on October 4, 1945, and later promoted to sergeant first class. Carter was refused re-enlistment in Army in 1949, due to allegations that he had communist contacts and allegiances, related to his affiliation with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade and a "Welcome Home Joe" dinner. He died of lung cancer—attributed to shrapnel remaining in his neck—on January 30, 1963. Carter was buried at Los Angeles National Cemetery and re-interred at Arlington National Cemetery in 1997. Personal life He married Mildred Hoover in 1940 and together they had two sons, Edward III (born March 27, 1941) and William (born 1944). Awards and decorations Carter's awards and decorations include: , a Navy container ship of the Military Sealift Command, was named after Carter. Medal of Honor In the early 1990s, it was determined that black soldiers had been denied consideration for the Medal of Honor in World War II on ground of their race. In 1993, the Army contracted Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, to research and determine if there was racial disparity in the review process for recipients of the Medal of Honor. A study commissioned by the Army described systematic racial discrimination in the criteria for awarding decorations during World War II. In 1996, after an exhaustive review of files, the study recommended that ten black Americans who served in World War II be awarded the Medal of Honor. In October of that year, Congress passed legislation that would allow the Medal of Honor to be passed to seven out of the ten former soldiers. The Medal of Honor was given to Carter's son, the descendants of the other five black Americans, and the only still-living recipient, Vernon Baker, on January 12, 1997. Out of the seven, six had their Distinguished Service Crosses revoked and upgraded. Citation See also List of African-American Medal of Honor recipients List of Medal of Honor recipients for World