Thomas Lee Carter was born on January 1, 1941 in Galveston, Texas, the son of Allen Dale Carter and Dorris Emaline Carter. He was valedictorian of the Torrance High Class of 1958. Carter was also a member of the Varsity Club and was on the Cross Country team which won Torrance High School its first C.I.F. championship team trophy in any sport.
According to Jerry Ronan (the scholarship chairman at Torrance High): “He was a great kid, good looking, athletic and loved by all. He went on to the Naval Academy, graduated in 1962, fifth in his class of 1,134! Went into academy’s post grad program, earned a Masters in Nuclear Physics. He selected the Marines for his service duty.”
On November 10, 1968, Captain Thomas L. Carter, USMC, died of multiple fragmentation wounds sustained during a hostile rocket attack on his forward artillery outpost near Con Thien, Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, where he was commanding Battery C, First Battalion, Twelfth Marines, Third Marine Division.
Funeral Services with full military honors were held at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Chapel in San Diego, California with interment at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. He was survived by his widow Doris and three children, and his parents of Redondo Beach, California.
