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16 www.army.mil/publications he cared about was that they had even put him in for it, that they thought he was worthy. That was honor enough. Carter prefers to remain out of the spotlight, and he wanted to keep the award as quiet as possible—a futile hope. His commander was notified and made the announcement to everyone at the 55th. Questions, the very thing Carter had wanted to avoid, followed. Except with his friends, to whom he eventually told the story, Carter dodged them as best he could. “I was like, ‘just hit me up some other day,’” he explained. The awards ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C., Dec. 12, 2008, was the first time Carter had seen some of the Soldiers from Shok Valley since the April battle, and the reunion was emotional, too personal to talk about, Carter said. “Certain things are better kept to yourself. It means more.” In spite of enough excitement and danger to last a lifetime, Carter has no plans to leave the Army any time soon. He loves being a Soldier and the pride and camaraderie that come with the profession. He re-enlisted for another six years during his deployment, and at press time, was preparing to move to his new duty station at the Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Ac- counting Command in Hawaii. v (Above) A Soldier hands out medicine as part of a medical civic assistance program in Khowst Province, Afghanistan, June 21, 2007. 16 www.army.mil/publications (Left) An Afghan soldier searches a man before he can get humanitarian aid supplies in Panow, Paktika Province, Afghanistan, June 27, 2007.