Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 David R. Carter

Remember Our Heroes

Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 David R. Carter, 47, of Centennial, Colo.

CWO4 Carter was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Colorado National Guard, Aurora, Colo.; died Aug. 6 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter in which he was riding was shot down.

‘He was our American hero’
The Associated Press

Chief Warrant Officer 4 David Carter, 47, of Aurora, Colo., was a man of faith who was “somebody you could count on.”

Yolanda Levesque, a neighbor speaking for the pilot’s family after his Aug. 6 death, called Carter an outstanding father, “a true Christian” and a patriot.

“He was our American hero,” Levesque said, struggling to keep her composure while reading from a statement at a news conference.

Carter was a full-time guardsman and an instructor pilot. He was a skilled aviator with more than 700 hours of combat flying time, Army Col. Chris Petty said.

Carter was one of two pilots flying the Chinook CH-47D on Saturday when it was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by an insurgent.

He had a passion for training young aviators, Petty said, and leaves behind “much more than dozens” of new pilots he taught.

“There’s a big hole in our organization today,” Petty said.

Maj. Gen. H. Michael Edwards said Carter was “somebody you could count on.”

“Every time you needed a launch, a helicopter for a state mission, Dave Carter was there,” Edwards said.

Carter is survived by his wife, Laura, and two children, Kyle and Kaitlen. David and Laura Carter were set to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in December.

Carter’s sister-in-law Marie Krizanovic described him as a “gentle-souled person.”

“Happy-go-lucky, gentle-natured,” Krizanovic said. “He had a very strong spiritual faith. He loved flying.”

A tattoo that CW4 Carter had on his arm was a poem that said the following:

"When I get to Heaven
To St. Peter I will tell
"Here I am reporting, sir!
I've spent my time in hell."

Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 David R. Carter was killed in action on 8/6/11.