Carter Bowie Magruder was born in London, England on 3 April 1900 of American parents. His father, an officer in the Public Health Service, had been sent to England to assist in preventing the spread of bubonic plague in the US.

He attended the University of Virginia; however he left in 1918 to attend the Officers Training Camp at Plattsburgh Barracks, New York, and was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the Infantry Reserve, 16 September 1918.

The following year he secured an appointment to the United States Military Academy. His prime activity in his spare time as a cadet, according to the Howitzer, was “horizontal exercise.” He did take part in sufficient activities to be a “high ranking make” his last three years. He was a member of the pistol team and the Honor Committee. He graduated in 1923 and was commissioned in the Field Artillery.

His first station was with the 6th Field Artillery at Fort Hoyle, Maryland. He was next assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington. This was followed by a tour in Hawaii. Here he first met Luella Johnson who was visiting her brother, a fellow officer in the Field Artillery. Cart’s next station was Fort Sill. By coincidence Luella had returned there with her brother, and Cart’s friendship for Luella became more serious. However, in 1931 Cart attended Purdue University. In 1932 he received his master’s degree in mechanical engineering and married Luella at Fort Wayne, Indiana. Carter and his bride returned to Fort Sill where he was assigned to the Gunnery Department as an instructor.

One year later he entered the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He graduated in 1935 and resumed his duties as an instructor at the Field Artillery School. In September 1938, he was detailed as a student at the Army War College in Washington, DC. He graduated in June 1939, was assigned to Fort Lewis, Washington and became Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 of the 3rd Division.

In July of 1941 he was assigned to the office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4, War Department General Staff. Much of his service from that time on was in the logistics area.

As director of the Planning Division of Army Service Forces, he planned and supervised the logistic support from the US for overseas operations. In 1944 he was promoted to brigadier general and became the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-4 of the Allied Headquarters in Italy. After the war he became chief logistic staff officer in the European command responsible for cleaning up the logistic aftermath of the war in Europe and establishing a logistic system for the occupation of Germany. In 1948 he became chief of staff to the DCG European Command, LTG C.R. Huebner.

In 1949 he returned to the US and became a deputy to the Assistant Secretary of the Army to assist in the support of the occupation of Germany, Austria, and Japan. He was a member of the delegation that negotiated the Austrian and Japanese Peace Treaties.

After serving two years in the office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Logistics, he was assigned to Korea, first as commander of the 24th Infantry Division, then IX US Corps (Group). He was promoted to lieutenant general in 1954. From 1955 to 1959 he was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Department of the Army.

He was promoted to general on 1 July 1959 and assigned to command the United Nations Forces, the US Forces, and the US Eighth Army in Korea. He retired from the Army in 1961.

For his service in World War II and Korea, he received the Distinguished Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters and many foreign decorations and honorary doctorate degrees.

After his retirement he made his home in Arlington, Virginia, and was a consultant to the Research Analysis Corporation of McLean, Virginia and the Logistics Management Institute of Washington, DC. For the period 6 April-30 September 1967, he was a consultant to the Department of Defense and director of the task force established at the direction of the President to study the Selective Service System.

Carter was an avid golfer and bridge player. However, in recent years his immobility forced him to give up golf. On the other hand, he continued to play bridge at the Army Navy Country Club with Mark McClure and other friends. Each summer he and Luella would escape the Washington heat for pleasant summer days in New Hampshire.

Then Carter’s health began to deteriorate. In late February 1988 he was admitted to Walter Reed Hospital and died there on 14 March. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery near his sister and his friend of many years, Maxwell Taylor.

Carter was one of the last survivors of those senior officers of Headquarters, Army Service Forces that were responsible for the deployment and logistic support of the millions of Army troops to the active overseas theaters in World War II. Carter was a great soldier, a superb logistician, a devoted husband and a friend to all who knew him. His life was the epitome of Duty, Honor, Country.