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Mark Carr came to the University of Georgia in 1959 from Cairo, the seat of Grady County.  His decision to enroll at UGA was influenced by his cousin Lewis Gainey, who later became the Head Track and Field Coach and his high school coach Tommy Taylor, who was renowned for coaching kids into champions and winning countless championships in multiple sports.

Mark was a pole vaulter and a long jumper who excelled and was a good teammate, a quiet leader who made a positive impact.  He was also a good student with a responsible bent to leave campus with a degree.  He was blessed with a calm demeanor and a disarming smile that suggested he would be a friend if you ever needed one. 

When he finished Georgia, like so many others, he had to take care of his military obligation.  Some volunteered for Viet Nam and some found an alternative plan.

I had a decision to make and chose a reserve route with the U. S. Coast Guard.  After basic training in Cape May, N. J., and a brief time at sea on the Coast Guard cutter, Unimak, I finished my six months’ reserve obligation while stationed at Groton, Connecticut.

My weekends were spent in either New York or Philadelphia.  There were four Bulldogs playing for the Eagles in those years—Bobby Walston, Riley Gunnells, Theron Sapp, and Pete Case. 

New York and Philadelphia were exciting and fun.  I saw some terrific games, the Eagles and Giants being headliners in the National Football Conference.  Frank Gifford and Charley Conerly were the faces of those New York teams.  In October 1962, the Yankees played the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.  That enabled me to witness Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays playing in a World Series; what a memorable experience!

My military requirement was like a vacation.  I visited Puerto Rico for the first time and then had my first international disembarkation when we docked at St. John, New Brunswick, on the Bay of Fundy.

While I was having fun in the Coast Guard, Mark Carr was in training to fly the HU1 Iroquois helicopter or “Huey.”  The Huey’s evacuation capabilities saved many lives during the Vietnam war.   

More than 2.7 million Americans served in Vietnam, and 58,220 did not return home.  In August 1967 Mark left for Vietnam leaving Judy, his pregnant wife stateside.   He didn’t see his daughter, Mary, until he returned a year later.

Mark collected a basketful of medals and citations, but never made a fuss about it.  Included are the Silver Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross.   He has also been inducted into the Georgia Military Hall of Fame, but it required former teammates Jack Thompson and David Cleghorn to fill out the nomination form for him.

Mark Carr is forever the reluctant hero.

His signature mission capsules how this selfless Georgia boy went on a life saving mission when superior officers told him it was too risky.  “My buddies were pinned down against a dike wall in the rice paddies and needed help,” is Mark’s comment about his decision.  “Those guys on the ground were the real heroes.”

Over the years, I have interviewed countless veterans of World War II and have made a half dozen trips to Normandy.  All of these men, save one who happened to be an imposter, were selfless heroes always deflecting praise to their fellow men.  Some, even decades later, would tear up when they talked about their buddies who did not return home.  Mark Carr put his life on the line to make sure that he made the effort to rescue a platoon of doomed infantry men.

Huey pilots were trained to place the tail of their choppers in the line of fire as the medical crew helped the infantrymen aboard.  In this case, Mark could not position his aircraft’s tail toward the line of fire, so he, undaunted, made a frontal approach and 26 men were rescued in heavy fire and were like Mary’s heroic dad. They lived to return home to their families.

Mark Carr, an unassuming student-athlete, a reluctant hero, is a “Great American.”