NYPD vet Floyd Carter Sr.'s legacy remembered at his funeral

about 6 years in NY Daily

One-time Tuskegee Airman Floyd Carter Sr., by word and example, left behind a legacy of leadership and love.

Family, friends and scores of his fellow NYPD members gathered on a snowy Wednesday morning to remember Carter as a pioneer who dedicated his long and inspiring life to his country, his city and his kin.

Grandson Jonathan Carter imitated the gravelly voice of the Air Force veteran in his eulogy for the 95-year-old Carter, who rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and spent 27 years with the NYPD.

“Always do the right thing and believe in God, for all things are possible with God,” said Jonathan, echoing his grandfather’s delivery.

“My grandpa used to have to give his speeches, where he emphasized on certain parts of the word,” continued Jonathan. “He said it in such a way. He would look at you with these eyes that would pierce through. You would just feel it in your soul.”

The pioneering Carter died March 8, the last act in a groundbreaking life of service and accomplishment. The African-America pilot served in WWII along with the wars in Korea and Vietnam, and flew one of the first planes during the Berlin airlift of 1948-49.

He later became an NYPD detective, working as bodyguard for visiting heads of state like Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Soviet head Nikita Khrushchev, and commander of the 732nd Military Airlift Squadron at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey.

Mourners gathered at Harlem’s Greater Refuge Temple for the emotional farewell, where his brown casket rested amid a collage of photographs illustrating his remarkable nine decades.

Carter's wife of more than 70 years, Atherine, sat in the front row of the church with her son, grandson and other relatives. The couple met when she was working at Tuskegee as part of an all-female repair crew, and were married at the air base in 1945.

Her was honored with the rest of the airmen in 2007 with the Congressional Gold Medal.

“That was a wise, wise man,” said his grandson as the crowd hung on his every word. “He always did the right thing.”

Carter’s fellow Tuskegee Airmen and members of the 369th Veteran Association provided military tributes to the American hero. And family friend Sean Attenbury, who was just 5 years old when he met Carter, paid homage with a powerful rendition of “Danny Boy.

“Col. Carter has flown home. He’s with the real Commander-in-Chief,” said Deputy Mayor Phillip Thompson, who attended on behalf of Mayor de Blasio. “Who persevered more than Col. Carter?”

Scores of speakers, including Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz and Erik Hernandez, commanding officer of the 47th precinct, echoed that feeling during the 2 -1/2 hour funeral.

“We have lost a giant, but heaven has gained a hero,” said Rev. Lamont Granby, with the Clergy Coalition of the 47th Precinct.

Carter’s only son, Floyd Jr., recounted how his father always heard the same heavenly voice speak each time the older man embarked on a daunting new challenge: “Fear not, I am with you.”

Carter’s faith never wavered, even as he once asked God as a 12-year-old to send a shooting star as proof of his existence.

The star appeared in the skies above.

“Was that a coincidence?” asked Floyd Jr. “He said, ‘That changed my mind.’ From then he knew who God really was.”

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