Bill Carpenter
End | |
Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
---|---|
Weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
College | Army |
High school | Springfield High School |
Career history | |
As player | |
1957–1959 | Army |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Military career | |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ |
William Stanley Carpenter Jr. (born September 30, 1937) is a retired American military officer and former college football player. While playing college football at the United States Military Academy, he gained national prominence as the "Lonesome End" of the Army football team. During his military service in the Vietnam War, he again achieved fame when he saved his company by directing airstrikes on his own position. For the action, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
Personal life
Carpenter was born in
Carpenter was a 1955 graduate of Springfield High School, Springfield, Pennsylvania[2] and later attended the Manlius School (now Manlius Pebble Hill School) in Manlius, New York.[3]
Carpenter married Toni M. Vigliotti in 1961 and had three children: William S. Carpenter III (1962), Kenneth Carpenter (1964), and Stephen Carpenter (1965).
College football career
While attending the
In 1982, Carpenter was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.[5]
Military career
Upon graduation, Carpenter was commissioned as an infantry officer and went on to serve at least two tours in Vietnam. In 1964, he was an adviser assigned to an airborne brigade of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. That unit came under heavy enemy fire immediately after being inserted by helicopter into a sugar cane field. Bill Carpenter was wounded by a gunshot through the arm while changing rifle magazines. His radio set was hit with another bullet and he was spun around and knocked to the ground. He proceeded to eliminate the source of the enemy fire, by knocking out a bunker with a hand grenade. For his actions he was awarded the Silver Star, the U.S. Army's third highest award for valor in combat.[6]
In 1966, Captain Carpenter's C Company,
Carpenter committed another act of heroism on February 1, 1967, at
In 1984, Carpenter went on to take command of the newly activated
See also
References
- Military Times. Archivedfrom the original on 2014-02-21.
- ^ "Still Lonesome End, still a military legend," Philadelphia Inquirer, Frank Fitzpatrick, December 1, 2006
- ^ a b "Carries Injured Man to Safety: Bill Carpenter Hero Again," Syracuse Post Standard, Feb 3, 1967
- ^ "The Lonesome End". Sports Illustrated. October 4, 1993. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
- ^ "Bill "The Lonely End" Carpenter". College Football Hall of Fame. Football Foundation. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
- ^ "'Things could be tense' for soldiers in Kosovo". Stars and Stripes. Retrieved Apr 28, 2020.
- ^ Baldinger, Mike. "Dak To – June 1966". 2nd 502nd Strike Force Widow Makers. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
- ^ a b Zintl, Robert T.; Kane, Joseph J.; Reingold, Edwin M. (15 April 1985). "Viet Nam: New Roles for an Old Cast". Time. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
- ^ "Sports People; Still Gaining". The New York Times. 4 August 1984. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
Additional sources
- Charles Goodman, Hell's Brigade, 1966, New York, Prestige, ASIN: B000UCG92Q.