U.S. Marine Pfc. Bruce W. Carter was in a battle during the Vietnam War when a grenade landed near him and fellow Marines.
Carter used his body to shield the other men from the explosive and died in Quang Tri Province on Aug. 7, 1969.
Originally from the Village of Virginia Gardens, Carter was given military funeral honors when he was buried at Vista Memorial Gardens in Miami Lakes.
Two years later, President Richard M. Nixon awarded Carter the Medal of Honor.
The Bruce W. Carter Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Miami was named for the fallen Marine in 2008.
On Oct. 30, Carter’s mother Georgie Carter-Krell was at Miami International Airport to see Marines carry her son’s flag-draped casket to a jet for a flight to Washington, D.C.
Carter was to be buried Nov. 4 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
The transfer of Carter’s remains for burial at the solemn shrine was a “tribute to his heroism … and an important reminder to all that a soldier’s life is always valued, no matter how much time has passed,” U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, said in a press statement.
He commended Carter -Krell for preserving her son’s memory and for her service to veterans.
“We have finally achieved what should have been done 50 years ago,” Carter-Krell said in the statement.
She thanked Diaz-Balart and his staff for helping make the transfer happen, adding, “Semper Fi.”