Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Frederick (Rick) Carrier was drafted into the U.S. Army shortly after his 18th birthday. Twelve months later, Rick hit Utah Beach in Normandy, France, in the First Wave on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Following Normandy, Rick participated on the front lines of five major European battles, including the Battle of the Bulge, the Remagen Bridge and Central Germany. On his 20th birthday, April 10, 1945, while scouting for military supplies abandoned by the Germans, he accidentally discovered the Buchenwald concentration camp. The following day, Rick was with Patton?s Third Army when they liberated camp Buchenwald and brought freedom to thousands of prisoners, including 750 orphaned boys. When the war ended, Rick studied painting at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He later continued his art training in Philadelphia in addition to working as a graphic artist, writer, filmmaker and environmental activist. In the 50s, he moved to New York City with his wife and family, and after his divorce in the late 60s he met his future partner, Lynn Ramsey.