Ross Carter Papers

Ross Samuel Carter (9 January 1919 - 18 April 1947) was born the third son of James David (1861 - 1942) and Lelia Viola (nee Fraley) Carter (1887 - 1969) in Duffield, Virginia. Ross Carter attended school at Lincoln Memorial University for three years graduating in 1941 with a bachelors degree in History. During his education, he worked his way through school milking cows and even sleeping in the no longer extant Sieberling dairy barn. After graduating from LMU in June 1941, Ross joined the paratroopers in 1942 to fight with Company C, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Infantry Division during the Second World War. He saw action in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, Netherlands, and Belgium. Ross was wounded in the arm during the initial phases of the Battle of the Bulge on December 20, 1944 at Cheneux, Belgium, but had sufficiently recuperated enough that he rejoined his unit in February 1945. For his heroism under fire, Ross Carter was decorated with the Silver Star. Of the forty men who were originally with his unit, only Ross and two others remained with him at the end of the war.

Coming home from the conflict, Carter regaled his family and friends with the exploits of him and his friends. Encouraged to write a book detailing his experiences, he began composing and organizing his stories in the summer of 1945, working entirely from memory. ​Ross later wrote:

"What I am writing is not military history but an eyewitness, participated in account and human story of men who fought the enemy to a standstill in many bloody battles all over Europe. I missed only forty-some days of duty with the regiment in three years; and so "was there" when all of these incidents happened."

After the war, Ross reenlisted in the U.S. Army and later took part Task Force Frigid in Alaska in the winter of 1946. During this time a mole on his back became infected and soon developed into cancer. Entrusting his unpublished manuscript to his brother Boyd G. Carter (1908 - 1980), Ross Carter passed away in April 1947. He is buried in the Carter Family Cemetery outside of Duffield, Virginia.

Boyd Carter edited his brother's memoirs and had them first published in 1951. From a diary entry found on the body of a German officer describing the fighting of the 504th during Allied operations around Anzio, Italy, Boyd Carter chose the title: Those Devils in Baggy Pants. The book sold over a million copies almost immediately and has since become one of the most well-known autobiographies of life on the front-lines during WWII. As a result of the book's popularity, Boyd Carter created the Ross S. Carter Prize for Original Writing given to an LMU student.