Pleasantville Air Force Veteran Honored

Family members and fellow U.S. Armed Forces veterans gathered at the Pleasantville Senior Center on Monday to formally recognize an unsung hero.

Thomas J. Carter, who served in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, said he was "emotional" during the ceremony that honored his time spent as a private in Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland and Central Europe during the war.

Bert Ruiz, commander of the Pleasantville Fancher Nicoll American Legion Post 77, read a proclamation from Mayor Peter Scherer naming December 3 Thomas J. Carter Day in the village.

Carter also received a certificate recognizing his completion of the parachute rigor course from May 1943 to July 1943.

Despite the many accolades bestowed upon him Monday, Carter maintained what Ruiz said is his constant modesty.

"You are the most modest man I know," Ruiz said.

He recalled growing up in Mount Vernon where he said World War II veterans returned home after the war and simply went on with their lives, as Carter did.

Said Carter, "All I did was show up."

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