John Blair CARTER

Spouse : Ethel Marguerite King

2 childrens

Parents : David C & Mary Douhan CARTER

Siblings : Clarice C, Wesley M, David D, Margaret A, Sherley W, Peter R, James A & Luke

Source : Frogman

CEMTERY TEMPORARY of  St Laurent N°3582

Story of Cemetery Temporary

Map of Normandy American Cemetery

John Blair Carter was born on April 17, 1917 in Hooper, Whitman County, Washington.

His father was born in Texas and his mother in Saskatchewan. They married in Montana and raised a large family. John had four brothers and four sisters.

John attended Lacrosse High School and worked for the Spokane Water Department after school. In 1938 he married Ethel Marguerite King. They had two children before he enlisted in the Army in June 1942.

After basic training and officers training he was assigned to the 348th Engineer Combat Battalion, 5th Engineer Special Brigade, Corps of Engineers. John was sent to Great Britain in November 1943 with his battalion to continue training for the Normandy invasion.

The roles of the combat engineers in the invasion would be to lay explosives to blow gaps in the beach obstacles, deactivate German explosives that were found, and serve as combat infantrymen. The 348th ECB was assigned to facilitate the landing of the 18th Infantry on the east section of Omaha Beach.

On June 6, 1944, 2nd Lieutenant John B. Carter was Killed in Action on Omaha Beach. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart. 2Lt. Carter is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France. In 1949 a memorial flagpole was erected in the city park of Hooper, Washington, John’s hometown.

Source : Fold 3