Sergeant Carter was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was wounded in North Korea on 8 November 1950 and returned to duty on 11 November 1950. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 29 November 1950. He was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Carter was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.