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Posted on 04/10/2003 10:07:43 AM PDT by Borneo1
Leave it to a Georgia boy to go all the way to Iraq to act like a dog.
A Bulldog, that is, and a good one, according to scores of Georgia fans.
Capt. Chris Carter became the pride of the Bulldog Nation early Monday morning when a news crew filmed him and Col. David Perkins - two Georgia graduates with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division - unfurling a University of Georgia flag outside one of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's Baghdad palaces.
Already the word "hero" had been attached to Carter's name. He led an effort to save an injured Iraqi woman during a firefight for a bridge across the Euphrates river last week - a scene immortalized by an Associated Press reporter and photographer embedded with Carter's unit.
Now the word "celebrity" might also be appropriate for the 31-year-old, who grew up in Watkinsville and whose father describes him as "shy by nature."
Sometime early Monday morning, Carter's unit took hold of one of Hussein's palaces. As he and Perkins approached the entrance, a FOX News reporter asked them for an interview.
They planned to take showers in Hussein's bathroom, they said. They also unfurled the Georgia flag Carter had carried with him through the desert and asked a live national television audience, "How 'bout them Dawgs?"
The scene was replayed several times. Georgia fans quickly turned a screen shot of the flag into desktop photos for their computers. The Red & Black, Georgia's student newspaper, proclaimed Carter the world's No. 1 Dog fan. The flag itself was mentioned in The New York Times.
"Even being a Clemson graduate, almost makes me cry," said father Michael Carter, who still lives in Watkinsville just outside of Athens.
Michael and Shirley Carter have kept up with their son as few parents can - through television reports and newspaper stories. It seems he's never far from the action and always quick with a good quote for reporters. The news reports are both a comfort and a worry for mom and dad - proof that he's alive, confirmation he remains in harm's way.
Carter is a avid Georgia fan, having graduated in 1995, Michael Carter said. He likes to hunt and fish and listen to Hank Williams Jr. He attends Georgia football games when he can, but was deployed to Kuwait during the season last November. That, by the way, wasn't such good timing in another way. He met his girlfriend, Amanda Cofer, just about a month before.
"Chris," Cofer said Wednesday, "did not mention that he was going to be a hero before he left."
Carter took his red, white and black banner with him so everyone would know where his loyalty lies, Cofer said. He planned to take the flag into one of Saddam's palaces before he ever left America, his father said. In fact, he hoped to be comfortable - maybe in one of Saddam's recliners, his feet up on one of Saddam's stools and watching one of Saddam's big screen TVs as Georgia beat Florida State in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1.
As it was, his unit rolled into Baghdad a few months later, but no less to the joy of Georgia fans who caught the entrance on television, or heard the story as it was retold a thousand times.
"At that moment I think that anyone who was a supporter of the University of Georgia really felt some pride," said Stebin Horne, a Macon city councilman and president of the Middle Georgia Bulldog Club.
"There are a lot of historical moments, whether it's a particular game or a particular event on campus, and this is certainly one of them," said Horne. "I think it will stick in the mind of University of Georgia fans forever."
Since their son's name started showing up in news stories, Michael and Shirley Carter's telephone has rung all but constantly. Reporters call. Friends call. Georgia fans call and e-mail. The reporters want a story. The others "are telling me that they're praying for Chris," Michael Carter said.
When Carter gets home - his father hopes by May - pray is the first thing his family will do. Then they will celebrate.
And if it's at all possible, Chris Tomlinson and John Moore, the AP reporter and photographer who have documented so much of Carter's journey, will be there for the fun. Not because they made Michael Carter's son famous. Because they kept mom and dad informed.
Said Michael Carter: "They're like family now."
(Excerpt) Read more at macon.com ...
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BTW..here's a long shot prediction for ya..if SU's frosh Carmello Anthony opts for the NBA draft, and it's 50/50 either way now, Jim Boeheim will retire..go out on top....that's why several coaching announcements haven't been made...a few folks are waiting to see what happens before the game of musical coaches starts agian..
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