Carter, Don

Don Carter was born January 1, 1925  in Wellsville, New York. Don and his siblings grew up in nearby Hornell, where his dad was a contractor and his mother was a telephone switchboard operator. Don grew up against the backdrop of the Great Depression; he remembered that his father’s contracts were suspended and times were tough, but he also recalled riding bicycles and scooters and ice skating on the local pond. At age 18 he had to register for the draft, receiving a six-month deferment in order to graduate.  When his time came, he was sent to Camp Upton on Long Island. At Camp Shank, he was asked about his math qualifications, and that led to his being sent to Ft. Bragg for 105mm Howitzer artillery training. In February 1944 Don arrived at Ft. Meade, Maryland, where he boarded a troop train for Boston Harbor, followed by a 50-day transit across the Atlantic to England in a convoy of 52 LST’s – travelling at 8 Knots the whole way! In Wales, Don was assigned to the 4th Division, 44th Artillery, Battery B. He arrived at Utah Beach on D-Day + 2  – June 8,1944.  He was a member of a crew of an M7 Priest 105mm Howitzer motor carriage (medium tank). He participated in Operation Cobra, the breakout from Normandy, through St. Lo to Paris. Don’s 4th Division was the first to arrive in Paris. They continued on from Paris to Belgium, and Don participated in the fighting in Hurtgen Forest and then the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, where they were surrounded by the Germans for three days.  Following the American victory, Don crossed the Rhine River on a pontoon bridge; he went on to observe significant combat in Germany, as his unit turned south along the Rhine to Munich. The unit liberated several concentration camps during this time. When the war was over the 4th Division was sent in short order from Le Havre, France to NYC;  they were scheduled to go to Camp Butner, N.C. and then to the Pacific Theater, but that was obviated by the dropping of the atomic bomb.  With that, Don took advantage of his GI Bill benefits as he attended the University of Buffalo dental school, though he opted for a degree in biology and built a career at Bausch and Lomb and found his way in postwar America, marrying and raising his own family.  Don Carter was interviewed over zoom by Crestwood students on December 7, 2025.