27. Fighting the Imperial Japanese Army
The first major manifestation of just how different Edward Allen Carter came when he was still in his teens. While there is nothing unusual about teenagers acting up, rebelling, and testing boundaries, Edward’s teenage rebellion, when it came, did not just test boundaries: it shattered them. No smoking, drinking, drugs, or hanging out with punks and ne’er do wells: that was for poseurs. Instead, Carter ran away at age of fifteen to go fight the Imperial Japanese Army.
In 1932, the Japanese attacked Shanghai, and a teenaged Carter ran away from home to fight with the Chinese Nationalists. Joining the Chinese 19th Route Army, he endured aerial bombing from Japanese planes, shelling from Japanese artillery, and ferocious ground attacks from Japanese infantry.