Herbert Carter

Who was Herbert Carter?

Herbert E. Carter was an American Retired Lt. Colonel of the United States Air Force. Carter was a member of the original thirty-three members of the Tuskegee Airmen. Carter flew seventy-seven missions with the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.

Carter was born in Amory, Mississippi on September 27, 1919. He was one of ten children in his family.

Carter served in the United States Air Force for twenty-five years before retiring as a Lt. Colonel in 1969. He obtained a Bachelor's of Science in education in 1955 and a master's degree in education in 1969, both degrees from the Tuskegee Institute, while simultaneously serving as an active-duty Air Force officer.

Carter served at the Tuskegee Institute as an associate dean for student services, associate dean for admission and recruiting, and a financial aid counselor following his retirement from the Air Force.

Lt. Colonel Herbert Carter died at the East Alabama Medical Center in Opelika, Alabama, on November 8, 2012, at the age of 93. Carter was the last surviving Tuskegee Airman from Mississippi. His late wife, Mildred L. Hemmons-Carter, who died in 2011, was the first African American woman to become a licensed pilot in the state of Alabama. Together, the Carters were known as the "First Family" of the Tuskegee Airmen.