Olin Carter

Olin B. Carter

Olin B. (OB) Carter, Lt. Col. USAF Retired, 90, passed away on February 24, 2011 in Rancho Mirage, CA. He was a career Air Force Man and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with one Oak Leaf Clusters, and Air Metal, with one Oak Leaf Cluster. O.B. flew 82 combat missions. He is credited with two confirmed aircraft shot down and destroyed another fifteen on the ground. His WWII area of service was in the Pacific Theater. He was part of the China, Burma and India (CBI) Service, the 1st Air Commandos, supporting British General Wingate, an all volunteer group. In later years he flew 30 missions in C-54s during Korea. Olin Carter was born in Lake Odessa, and raised in East Lansing Michigan, where his grandparents had a farm. He also went to school there and graduated in a class of 78, in 1938. He went to Michigan State College where he studied German and English along with other usual classes. O.B. remembered getting his first car, a 1928 Chevrolet Coupe, that car cost him $5.00. He trained as a civilian pilot in college, and got his private license in the first year. The next year he got his commercial license. September 1941, he was accepted in the Army Air Corps cadet training program. He was sent to Hemet, California in Class 42-D, learning to fly PT-17s and PT-22s. After basic flying school training at Lemoore, California, he then was sent to Chandler, Arizona at Williams Field where he was picked to fly the P-38, and was sent to March Field, California for training. While training in the P-38s and accumulating 1000 hours of flight time, he had a few close calls. Of all the planes he flew the P-38 remained his favorite. He survived a high vertical dive with broken elevator trim controls, an engine fire at high altitude, a mid air collision, and an emergency landing on a country road. By retirement time he had flown 49 different aircraft, from fighter aircraft, bombers, trainers, cargo, including P-38, P-40, P-47, P-51, B-25, B-26, C-47, C-46, C-124, C-131 and KC-97 and too many other military and civilian aircraft to mention individually. His last military job was to close the Air Force Base at Reno, Nevada. After retirement in 1966 he served as Director of the Reno Airport. He became one of the founders of the Reno Air Races; he remains a "Trustee Emeritus" of the races. O.B. Carter was a charter member of the Palm Springs Air Museum. He had served as a docent, a ramp crew member, a class room presenter for new docents, and gave presentations at a variety of organizations in the Coachella Valley. A memorial service will be held at the RV Outdoor Resort, 69-411 Ramon Rd., Cathedral City, CA in the La Palma Clubhouse on Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 11 a.m. Graveside services will be held at Riverside National Cemetery on Monday, March 7, 2011 at 11:45 a.m. Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries.