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Justin
B. Carter—April
2005 Shipment Honoree
Army Spc. Justin B. Carter,
21, of Mansfield, Mo., died February 16, 2005 in Forward Operating Base
McKenzie, Iraq, from non-combat related injuries. Carter was
assigned to the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3d
Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), Fort Benning, GA
Specialist Justin B.
Carter was born on 26 October 1982 in Witchia, Kansas. He
entered active Federal Service in October 2002 where he
attended Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training in
Fort Leanordwood, Missouri. Following AIT, SPC Carter was
assigned to A Co, 2nd Engineers, Camp Castle, Korea where he
served as a Unit Armorer until February 2004. SPC Carter
returned to the United States and was assigned to Fort Benning
March 2004. At the time of his death, SPC Carter had served 11
months in Echo Company as a Combat Engineer and as the Unit
Armorer at Fort Benning, Georgia.
SPC Carter's awards
include the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service
Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service
Ribbon, and the Overseas Service Ribbon.
SPC Carter's survivors
include, his mother and her husband, Becky and Brett Misemer
and his father William Carter.
Justin Carter had a
truck that locals had nicknamed the "Red Blur." "Everybody in
town knew Justin and his truck," said Carter's stepfather and
deer-hunting buddy, Brett Misemer. Carter was in a rush to
live life, but he always kept track of details about friends
and made time to speak to each person at family gatherings. He
once invited a handful of friends from his barracks to his
home for the Thanksgiving holidays. On Valentine's Day, he
remembered to e-mail his mother, Becky, and send his love. "I
thank God every day for giving me the chance to be raised by
the best mother on earth!" he wrote just days before his
death. Before he graduated from high school in Mansfield and
enlisted in the Army, Carter was involved with the Future
Farmers of America. His cousin, Rebecca Denney, remembered the
adventures they had during high school, such as the prom they
never quite made it to. He was the life of the party wherever
he went, she said.
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