Ty Carter Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ty Carter

• Ty Carter is a retired American military personnel who served the US armed forces from 1998 to 2014. He is the recipient of the Medal of Honor (MOH), the United States Armed Forces’ highest military decoration.

• After a year of his birth, the family shifted to California’s Bay Area from Spokane in 1981; however, the family returned to Spokane in 1991.

• Ty Carter and his siblings, brother Seth, and sister Amber, were raised by their single mother in Spokane as their parents separated soon after Carter’s birth.
  

  A collage of Ty Carter’s childhood photos

• While growing up in Spokane, Ty Carter graduated from North Central High School in 1998. He later settled in Antioch, California, which he considers his home of record. ^[6]White House Office of the Press Secretary
  

  Ty Carter’s photos from his high school days

• According to Carter, while studying in high school, he was a loner, a skinny kind of guy, who didn’t really get along with anybody; he didn’t have a whole lot of good friends.

• Soon after graduating from North Central High School, Carter joined the United States Marine Corps on 13 October 1998, where he attended the Marine Corps Combat Engineer School. Soon, he was deployed to Okinawa, Japan, as an intelligence clerk.
  

  Ty Carter shared a photo on Instagram from the 1999 Combat Engineer Training, Camp Lejeune North Carolina

• In 1999, based on his weapons’ marksmanship skills, he was sent to Primary Marksmanship Instructor School.

• After serving two short training deployments; one to San Clemente Island, California, and the other to Egypt, for Operation Bright Star, Ty Carter was relieved from the Marine Corps on 12 October 2002.

• After his stint with the Marine Corps ended, Carter shifted to civilian life and studied biology at Los Medanos Community College in California, where he met a girl named April Ait, and in early 2004, they started dating each other. After Ait became pregnant, the couple got married.

• After graduating from college, he travelled from place to place, looking for work and a new purpose. According to Carter, he first started out working with a yacht maintenance service. He then worked at various places and in various capacities including a motorcycle apparel store, spa, dairy mill, sawmill, security providing company, and as an assistant manager/projectionist at a theatre. He also worked with a chainsaw. ^[7]CNN – YouTube

• In an interview, Carter talked about his civilian life and said that he felt like he was a drone as there was no purpose in his life while he was working at these places. ^[8]CNN – YouTube Meanwhile, he was going through a divorce with April Ait, soon after the birth of their daughter, Madison. Amidst all these, Carter decided to return to military life and joined the United States Army as a cavalry scout in January 2008; he was trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky.
  

  Ty Carter (extreme left) with his US Army fellows

• After completing his training at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Carter was assigned to 3-61 Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, and he was deployed to Afghanistan, from May 2009 to May 2010.
  

  Ty Carter during his first deployment to Afghanistan

• During his first deployment in Afghanistan, he was stationed at Combat Outpost (COP) Keating in Kamdesh District, Nuristan Province, where more than 300 enemy fighters attacked on the morning of 3 October 2009, which later came to be known as the Battle of Kamdesh. According to a detailed report by the United States Army, Ty Carter, as a specialist, killed enemy troops, resupplied ammunition to American fighters, rendered first aid, and risked his own life to save an injured soldier who was pinned down by a barrage of enemy fire. In the battle, eight American soldiers lost their lives, while more than twenty-five were left wounded. In an interview, Ty Carter recalled the day and said,
  

  It was as if somebody kicked an ant hill. The bullets, the rockets, the mortars, everything, a wall of spikes — they’re pointing at you.” ^[9]National Public Radio

  

  U.S. Army Visual of Key Locations for the Battle of COP Keating

• In October 2010, Ty Carter was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, as a Stryker gunner with the 8th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.

• In October 2012, he was again deployed to Afghanistan, and after completing his second deployment to Afghanistan, Carter was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord with the 7th Infantry Division. ^[10]White House Office of the Press Secretary
  

  Ty Carter during his second deployment to Afghanistan

• On 26 August 2013, U.S. President Barack Obama placed the Medal of Honor around Carter’s neck during a White House ceremony for his actions during the 2009 Battle of Kamdesh in Afghanistan.
  

  President Barack Obama placed the Medal of Honor around Carter’s neck during a White House ceremony in August 2013

  After receiving the honor, Carter said,

  Even though this award is an awesome honor and a great privilege, in order to get such a prestigious award, you have to be in a situation where your soldiers, your family, your brothers, are suffering and dying around you. And then, you just did everything you could to save lives or prevent further loss.” ^[11]National Public Radio

• In September 2014, Ty Carter retired from his active military service.

• In an interview, Ty Carter talked about his struggle to relive the Battle of Kamdesh and fight to save his men, and severe Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for not saving his fellow soldier Stephan Mace. According to Carter, when he and four others were pinned down in a Humvee under gun and grenade fire on the morning of 3 October 2009, he decided to step out of the vehicle into the hail of bullets with his fellow infantryman Specialist Stephan Mace to give cover for the others to escape to shelter; however, two of the three men were killed in that sprint, and Mace was left wounded on the ground, and when Carter tried to help Mace, his sergeant at first refused to let him go back for the injured Mace, shouting ‘You’re no good to him dead’ over the gunfire and explosions. After persuading the sergeant, Carter dodged rocket-propelled grenades and rounds, zipping over his head, to get to Mace, giving first aid and then carrying him another 300 ft to safety. Later, Mace was airlifted away for medical treatment, but he succumbed to his injuries, leaving Carter wracked with guilt over his fellow soldier’s death. Carter says,
  

  Stephan Mace and I were not friends. But just because I don’t get along great with somebody doesn’t mean I don’t care about them or value their life. So I wasn’t going out there to save my loved one or my best friend. He was wearing the uniform so was part of my family, so I will do what I need to do. When you see someone you know can help out there, suffering, it turns your brain to lava and your stomach into acid, and then your limbs turn numb but are full of negative energy. You feel so angry you can hardly breathe. But as I was running out there I wasn’t thinking about the bullets that were hitting all around or the explosions. All I was thinking was that I need to help this person. And that’s one of the reasons I had severe post-traumatic stress — because I survived but Mace didn’t.” ^[12]Daily Mail

  

  Stephan Mace succumbed to his injuries during the Battle of Kamdesh in October 2009

• According to Carter, when Pvt. Ed Faulkner Jr. died of an overdose of the drugs he had turned to in an attempt to deal with his trauma in September 2010, he decided to campaign to remove the stigma around seeking help for post-traumatic stress. Carter calls Faulkner the ninth victim of the battle. In an interview, Carter talked about this and said,
  

  We need to just call it what it is: it’s just stress from the past. It’s not a disorder, it is something that’s supposed to happen.” ^[13]Daily Mail

  Later, President Obama praised Carter for talking openly about the disorder and said,

  Let me say it as clearly as I can to any of our troops or veterans who are watching and struggling. Look at this man. Look at this soldier. Look at this warrior. He’s as tough as they come, and if he can find the courage and the strength to not only seek help but also to speak out about it, to take care of himself and to stay strong, then so can you.”

• The Outpost, a 2020 American war film, is based on the book “The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor” by Jake Tapper. The film depicts the Battle of Kamdesh in which American actor Caleb Landry Jones portrayed Ty Carter, and Carter also made a brief appearance in the film.
  

  Ty Carter made a brief appearance as a sergeant in the film The Outpost

• In November 2018, Netflix released an anthology documentary series titled Medal of Honor in which Ty Carter was featured in episode 8; American actor Jonny Weston portrayed Carter.
  

  Ty Carter featured in the Netflix series Medal of Honor

• The stories of his heroic act during the Battle of Kamdesh have been featured in many magazines.
  

  Ty Carter featured on the cover of an American magazine

• In his leisure time, he loves cooking and gardening, and he often shares pictures of these hobbies on social media.
  

  Ty Carter preparing a recipe in his kitchen

• He is a dog lover and often shares pictures of his pet dog, Nala.
  

  Ty Carter with his pet dog

• He often smokes cigars and consumes alcoholic beverages on various occasions. He loves homebrewing.
  

  Ty Carter smoking a cigar while holding a glass of alcoholic beverage

  

  Ty Carter’s Instagram post about homebrewing