Carter, Arthur B.
CARTER, Arthur B.
PERSONAL: Born in Cairo, IL; married Susan Plemon (a university microbiology teacher), November 26, 1959; children: David, Patricia Ann. Education: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, B.A. and M.S.; graduate study at University of Notre Dame and Mississippi State University. Politics: "Conservative Republican." Religion: Presbyterian. Hobbies and other interests: Military small arms, military miniatures, photography.
ADDRESSES: Home—6517 Valor Ct., Mobile, AL 36618-3240.
CAREER: U.S. Army Infantry, career officer, including assignments in the Pacific theater and the Middle East, 1942-67, retiring as captain; military advisor and instructor at a military school in Mobile, AL, 1967-72; Woodward Governor Co., Rockford, IL, technical writer, 1972-83; freelance writer, 1983—.
MEMBER: Sons of Confederate Veterans, Military Order of Stars and Bars, American Legion, Retired Officers Association.
AWARDS, HONORS: Military—Parachutist Badge, Bronze Star, Air Medal, and Crosses of Military Service for World War II and the Korean campaign.
WRITINGS:
The Tarnished Cavalier (biography), University of Tennessee Press (Knoxville, TN), 1999.
WORK IN PROGRESS: Divided Loyalties.
SIDELIGHTS: Arthur B. Carter told CA: "I have always been intrigued with the actual research, probably more than with writing itself. This I owe primarily to the chairman of the Department of History at Southern Illinois University. He required that all students majoring in history complete courses in research and thesis writing. What I had originally thought of as dull and boring was found to be far different. In many ways, with new and original material, a chosen topic may be discovered as only having its surface skimmed, with new and original material hidden from previous writers of the same subject.
"I remain intrigued with topics of which little has been known or researched. Often it is as if one was working a jigsaw puzzle; what might be a bothersome task to many individuals becomes to me an adventure.
"The Civil War era, both in reading and writing for pleasure, has been a passion for many years. Having been raised in a family where stories of that conflict were routine stuff and having had six immediate ancestors in the Confederate Army, the choice of subject or topic was never difficult.
"There have been thousands of books written on that conflict, yet many areas and individuals remain untouched. The same holds true with regard to World War II. Having traveled in northern Greece, and speaking both that language and German, I feel the time is appropriate for an in-depth study of the Waffen SS, about whose activities and operations little has been written and even less is known."