Researching a bit further, via Google, I find a citation that suggests that the copyright on the book shows 1951 Boyd G. Carter and Viola L. Carter. They could very well be his siblings. On amazon's website, one of the reader reviews says Most engrossing combat book I've ever read,, March 19, 1999 Reviewer: Don Struke (see more about me) from Baltimore, MD I may be the only reviewer who read the original paperback (in the early 50s - I remember a postscript referred to Ross Carter's death from cancer - I recall it was a melanoma on his back, for war author trivia buffs - and he's buried on a hillside in rural Virginia, I think). To this day I remember how devastated I was to read this vivid, image-rich book and then learn at the end that its author died so young, but so ironically peacefully (I hope it was peaceful...he earned it). His frank, honest,human account of what he and his fellow soldiers experienced has stayed w/me for more than 40 yrs. It's an incredible book and I for one am very thankful the rough edges of Carter's literary artistry were not smoothed, that his story, apparently, was published so soon after it happened that no "smoothing" editor had time to polish it. Folks, I read this book four decades ago and HIGHLY recommend it. Wish my Mom hadn't tossed that paperback. and another says The book is a little rough around the edges because Ross Carter, a member of Company C, died of cancer in 1947 before he could rewrite the original draft. There's an excerpt of the book at http://www.unc.edu/~jderrick/baggy.html Searching on Boyd Carter, I find some references to a cemetery in West Virginia At 08:57 AM 5/2/2002 -0400, Wyn Achenbaum wrote: >Flora, > >Long shot at best, but maybe this could provide a clue: Samuel Ross >Carter (1840-1903), of Chatham, Pittsylvania County, Virginia, was my >ancestor, and he was known as Ross. Among his children was my >great-grandfather, Shields Saunders Carter. My grandfather, Weld Saunders >Carter, was born in 1900 and his sister Elaine in 1907. Some months >before her birth, Shields left the family. Somewhere in family lore there >is the suggestion that he "went west" and died in the mid teens. > >(Samuel Ross Carter's brothers included James Carter, whose daughter, Maud >Carter Clement, wrote the wonderful history of Pittsylvania County.) > >For reasons I can't explain, Miller's book (1916, page 141) on the >descendants of Captain Thomas Carter shows Shields' children as Rosewell >York Carter and Elaine Carter. > >I've wondered whether, after he left his wife and children, Shields might >have remarried and had more children. If he did, "Ross S. Carter" would >be a very reasonable name to give one. > >And alternatively, perhaps there are other descendants of Samuel Ross >Carter's parents named for "my" Ross. It is not an uncommon pattern in >the family -- Shields Saunders Carter was named for his maternal uncle >Shields Saunders Lucke, who died at the Battle of Seven Pines, and I've >got many other examples, to this day. > >I'd love to hear more, if anyone has clues or suggestions. > >At 07:54 AM 5/10/2002 -0500, Flora Newby wrote: > >>Does anyone know the genealogy on Ross S Carter he died in 1947 and was thw >>ghost author of the book Devils In Baggy Pants.On one page he mentions his >>ancestor Thomas Carter he served as a paratrooper in WW II >> >>Thank You >>Flora